Baby Falcons coast to first PSSBC crown

MANILA, Philippines - Adamson became the first UAAP team to capture the Philippine Secondary Schools Basketball Championship (PSSBC) crown, beating last year’s champion Chiang Kai Shek College, 96-85, at the SGS gym in Quezon City last Sunday.

With rookie Florencio Serrano leading the attack, the Baby Falcons took charge with a fiery second quarter run then held sway in the fourth to dispatch the Blue Dragons and snare the fifth MEC Networks Cup dubbed as “Battle of Champions.”

The leading scorer in the UAAP after the first round, the cat-quick Serrano eluded his defenders to fire 20 points. He also snared eight rebounds, dished off four assists and made one block in 25 minutes of action.

With another superb all-around performance, the 5-foot-11 Serrano later copped the Finals MVP honors while leading the Mythical Selection that included teammate Gerry Abadiano, La Salle Greenhills’ Troy Mallilin, Mapua’s Rom Junsay and Chiang Kai Shek’s Jonas Tibayan.

Aside from the championship trophy, Adamson also pocketed the P50,000 top prize from PSSBC officials led by MEC Network owner Leoncio Chua and Eduard Tio.

“The Baby Falcons will have a memorable Christmas this time. They are really good,” said Chua.

Meantime, reigning NCAA titlist Mapua clinched third place by downing La Salle-Greenhills, 80-69, with Junsay finishing with 28 points, including four triples.

But the day’s biggest winner was coach Goldwin Monteverde, who handled both Adamson and CKSC. But he took no sides in the finals, letting his assistant coaches to slug it out for the crown.