Governor’s Cup Basketball: Let the battle begin (Talisay opens title defense vs Sibonga tonight)

CEBU, Philippines — The Talisay City Aquastars will begin their title defense against the Sibonga Pillars as the 2019 Cebu Governor's Cup Inter-Cities and Municipalities Under 21 Developmental Basketball Tournament gets underway today featuring a total of 17 games scattered in eight venues across the province.

Of the 41 participating LGUs (local government units), only seven teams won't be seeing action in the first full day of action in the three-month cage wars that offers over P2 million in cash prize to the top performing teams and individual achievers as well.

At the Talisay City Sports Complex tonight, the Aquastars, who won last year's championship with a perfect 14-0 record under the stewardship of coach Rey Michael Gurrea, will kick off their campaign for back-to-back championships against the Pillars, fourth placer in the 2018 season, at 7:30 pm.

In the other 1st District games, the Minglanilla Archangels will go up against the San Fernando Spartans at 6 pm, right after the Naga City Electrifiers will lock up honors with the Carcar City Lechoneros in the 4:30 p.m. opener.

At the Oslob municipal gym for the 2nd District action, Oslob will play host to Argao, while Alcoy and Boljoon will go up against Santander and Samboan, respectively.

In the lone 3rd District match, Tuburan will defend its fort against Balamban at the Tuburan municipal gym.

Over the Bogo City Coliseum for the 4th District cluster, Bogo will take on Sante Fe, San Remigio tackles Medellin, while Tabuelan faces off with Tabuelan.

In 5th District Bracket A at the Catmon municipal gym, Catmon will go up against Sogod, while Carmen will mix it up with Borbon. In Bracket B to be played at the Danao City Sports and Civic Center, Danao will see action against Tudela, while Poro and San Francisco will figure in a showdown of islanders from Camotes.

The Consolacion Sarok Weavers, on the other hand, will play host to Cordova in the only 6th District match at the Consolacion Sports Complex.

Down South at the Dumanjug municipal gym for the 7th District Bracket A battle, Dumanjug will square off against Alcantara, while Ronda slugs it out with Moalboal.

The organizing Cebu Provincial Sports Commission (CPSC) is adapting a new format this year wherein the contending teams are clustered according to congressional districts. They will play a single round robin, with the top two qualifiers facing off in a one-game district championship.

For congressional districts with only three teams, they will follow a double round robin format to determine the two teams that will slug it out for the district title.

Aside from pocketing a cash incentive of P100,000 and P50,000, top two teams in each district will also advance to the quarterfinals and will be divided into two clusters through drawing of lots. Each cluster will play another single round robin.

The top two finishers per cluster will then proceed to the crossover semifinals. The winners will dispute the overall crown in a best-of-three series while the losers will fight for third place in a winner-take-all affair.

The grand champion will take home P500,000, while the second to fourth placers will receive P300,000, P200,000, and P100,000, respectively. The Most Valuable Player will get P10,000, while the members of the Mythical Five will claim P5,000 each. — EBV