Energen U-16 squad starts Fiba Asia campaign tomorrow

THE YOUNGSTERS of the Energen Under-16 squad will kick off their campaign in the FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship against Indonesia tomorrow in Vietnam.

The Philippines’ national squad is expected to bank on their quickness and outside sniping to hopefully best their fourth-place finish during the last edition of this tournament.

The young nationals virtually secured an easy route to the next stage after drawing Indonesia and host Vietnam in the only three-country group in the preliminary round.

Defending champion China, which battles India in the last of a seven-game bill today, got bunched with Malaysia and Chinese Taipei in Group A. Korea, Iraq, Uzbekistan and Lebanon battle in Group B, while Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Japan mix it up in Group C.

Teams in each group will compete in a round-robin format, where the top three will advance to the next stage. The champion and the runner-up in the tournament featuring 15 countries will represent Asia in the 2012 Fiba U17 World Championship from July 17 to 26 in Lithuania.

Two players with roots in Cebu are on the squad with current Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu point guard Henry Asilum and former SHS-AdC stalwart and now San Beda Red Cub Adven Jess Diputado earning the guard slots. The rest of the team are Jay Javelosa (Reedley International), Kyles Lao (Xavier) and Hubert Cani (National University), who are the only holdovers in the Philippines’ championship run in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association tournament last August, Jordan Heading (Faith Academy), Nic Dalafu (Victory Christian International), Tomas Ramos (Ateneo), Jay Alejandro (Mapua), Prince Rivero (National University), Andrei Caracut (San Beda) and Isaac Go (Xavier). Reserves are Earl Murphy (Ateneo) and Daryl Pascual (Arellano). /Correspondent Jonas Panerio