ILOCOS NORTE – Davao has lastly introduced the title house because the Eagles pulled away late to silence Western Visayas, 67-51, within the 2025 Palarong Pambansa secondary boys basketball finals on Friday on the Ilocos Norte Centennial Enviornment.
The victory was a historic feat for the area because it clinched its first-ever Palaro gold medal in the highschool ranks.
READ | Palarong Pambansa Medal Tally
Jhonmark Pelegrino and Rene Clert Baterbonia carried the offensive onslaught for Davao because the rising tandem poured in 19 factors every to assist the squad enhance from their bronze medal end final yr.
“Sobrang overwhelmed ko ngayon, sobrang glad ko pero si Lord lahat ‘yun. Lahat naman ng groups nagpa-practice at nagsa-sacrifice on a regular basis pero sinu-surrender namin lahat kay Lord,” Davao head coach Jess Evangelio mentioned.
“Very grateful kami kasi ayun nga, historical past. First-time ever.”
Davao began off scorching and mounted an early 15-8 separation on the finish of the primary quarter, however Western Visayas turned to Luke Rose as soon as once more because the 15-year-old guard picked up the place he left off and fueled a second quarter rampage.
The youthful courtroom basic fired 13 factors in that interval, together with three three-pointers that helped Western Visayas pull inside simply three factors on the half, 27-24.
However Baterbonia and Pelegrino took care of enterprise for Davao within the second half with the previous scoring 9 factors as a part of a large 14-3 blast to open the penultimate interval, 41-27. They ended the third having fun with a 46-37 lead.
Pelegrino put collectively the ending kick by unleashing eight of their final 10 factors en path to the 16-point victory as they humbled Western Visayas, which was coming off a pair of upset victories over NCR in quarterfinals and CALABARZON in semifinals.
“Ang hirap po ng pinagdaanan namin na araw-araw na observe po para lang po dito sa Palaro,” Pelegrino mentioned.
“Naging susi lang dito ay ‘yung pagsisikap po namin at pagtawag sa Panginoon lagi. Araw-raw bago matulog nagdadasal kami para bigyan kami ng gabay dito.”
The win additionally noticed Davao full a title sweep, going undefeated in 4 video games within the elimination spherical earlier than beating Northern Mindanao in quarterfinals and Central Luzon in semifinals.
—JKC, GMA Built-in Information