Fil-Kiwis arriving for NBTC High School Championships

Fil-Kiwis arriving for NBTC High School Championships

by rick olivares

Thirteen Filipino-New Zealanders are arriving in Manila this coming March to participate in the SM-National Basketball Training Center National High School Championships.

The SM-NBTC League is the biggest high school basketball tournament held in the country with close to 700 schools from all over the country participating.

This is also the second year where Fil-foreign teams will participate in the tourney. Aside from Camp David New Zealand that lists players of Filipino lineage from the cities of Auckland and Wellington, other foreign squads include AusPinoy Australia, Durham Crossover from Canada, and Filam Sports USA.

Durham Crossover is a returnee to the tournament as they competed in last year’s tourney along with Traill International School of Thailand.

Camp David New Zealand will be coached by Emmanuel Hoque with David Perez as first assistant.

The teams lists point guards Jordan Perez and Joshua Tayug; off-guards Marc Malingin, Miggy Falqueza, and Tyler Martin; small forwards Aaron Davis, Gerard Cabral, Taine Davis, Mathew Manese, and Simoun Allumia; power forwards Emmanuel Maagdenberg and Denrick Arellano; and center Edward Maagdenberg,

Two players – Taine Davis and Miggy Falqueza are part of the U16 FIBA New Zealand trialist pool. Taine Davis and Edward Maagdenberg are on the Under-16 Batang Gilas 24-man pool.  Aaron Davis and Emmanuel Maagdenberg have received significant interest from a couple of Philippine colleges competing in the UAAP.

Camp David New Zealand will be competing in the eight-team Division One bracket along with NCAA titlists Mapua, MMBL champions San Beda, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, AusPinoy Australia, Durham Crossover, Filam Sports USA, and the UAAP champion that has yet to be determined as of press time.

The SM-NBTC National High School Championships will be held from March 13-16, 2017, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.