50 years ago

Juan Miguel Llamas, a former La Salle junior basketball player, phoned the other day to point out errors in a report on the Greenies team that won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship in 1955.

Llamas said he ought to know. He played on the title squad.

Apparently, the mix-up was caused by the year and the season when La Salle captured the crown. The Greenies clinched the title in 1955 but it was for the 1955-56 season.

Similarly, Far Eastern University won the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s senior basketball title this year, 2005, for the 2005-06 season.

Llamas set the record straight.

Here’s the correct lineup of La Salle’s 1955-56 NCAA junior basketball championship team: Kurt Bachmann (captain), Jess Santamaria, Nicasio Veloso, Manuel Villava, Honorato Cruz, Dominador Sevillano, Henry Zabarte, Ramoncito Fernandez, Carlos Catala, Emilio Gonzales, Alvin Schlobohm and Llamas. The coach was Rogelio LaO and the athletic moderator was Bro. Virgil.

To prove it, Llamas sent clippings from the campus newspaper The La Sallite’s ‘victory’ edition with the headline "Green Robins NCAA Champions." The date of issue was Oct. 5, 1955.

Curiously, the La Salle junior team was called the Green Robins. It was also dubbed the Teenarchers. Today, the Zobel high school squad is called the Junior Archers in the UAAP.

The title game featured La Salle versus defending champion Jose Rizal College. A newspaper report said there were 11,000 fans who packed the stadium and the contest was televised. The title was the La Salle juniors’ second in post-war history.

LaO’s starters were Bachmann, Villava, Schlobohm, Sevillano and Santamaria. Jose Rizal’s top gunner was Pablo Pablo.

The first quarter ended with La Salle in the driver’s seat, 13-12. The Green Robins slowed down the tempo in the second period and took a 23-18 lead at the half. In the third period, La Salle began to pull away behind Bachmann, playing despite a severe cold, and Sevillano. The lead ballooned to 11 but Jose Rizal managed to cut the deficit to five, 33-28, at the end of the quarter.

In the payoff period, the Green Robins went berserk. Bachmann, Sevillano, Villava and Llamas took turns puncturing the hoop. Llamas, Schlobohm and Villava conspired to hold Pablo scoreless in the last 24 minutes.

The 5-6 Llamas and the 5-4 Villava scored the last four points to give La Salle a 17-point win, 53-36. The Green Robins had previously defeated Jose Rizal, 74-54 and 58-44, in the double-round eliminations.

Villava topped the Green Robins in scoring with 14 points. Sevillano netted 12 and Bachmann, 11. Llamas hit six points, Santamaria five, Schlobohm two, Cruz two and Zabarte one. Peralta led Jose Rizal with 11 points. Sacasas tallied seven, Pablo seven, Gutierrez six, Adriano three and Nobleza two.

The La Sallite sports column "Inside Pitch" by Doc III had this to say about the championship win:

"They did it the hard way, fighting every inch of the way. They won the championship with heads high. Honie (Cruz) was one of the most valuable men on the court. To Bachmann, we also wish to give our congratulations for his fighting heart. Sevillano was essential in the drive through. Schlobohm, that intercept addict, was at his best. Zabarte seemed to have lost his jitters and he certainly was effective when it came to fighting for the ball.

"Santamaria delivered some points in the first quarter. Villava was tremendous with his timely shots. Llamas was certainly the atom bomb that destroyed the Bombers. He held Bomber Pablo scoreless while adding to our own total of points. Llamas was the secret weapon that coach LaO kept under cover for just this occasion. To the other team members, the victory was yours for our frontline would not have been any good if they did not have stiff competition during practice."

Bro. Gabriel, the La Salle director, issued this statement:

"Everyone loves a winner. But all of us at La Salle are not only happy because our Junior team won the NCAA championship for 1955, we are especially proud because our Junior team is truly a championship team—in its fighting spirit, its sportsmanlike conduct and its public performance in the best of La Salle’s traditions. We believe there’s lots more to a game than just ‘mere winning’ and we have seen our Junior team prove that this season.

"Congratulations to Bro. Virgil, the athletic moderator, who has quietly inspired the team through this season, to coach Rogelio LaO for his excellent training and coaching of the team and above all, for giving the members of the Junior squad that intangible something called ‘quality’, to the Junior players for their spirit of loyalty to one another, their obedience to instructions and regulations and above all, for the ‘credit’ they have done to the name of La Salle in the sports world.

"Everyone, who loves pure amateur athletics, was very happy deep down in his heart when the trophy came to La Salle’s Junior Champions of the NCAA for 1955."

A similar tribute could be made for the Zobel team that took the UAAP junior title this year.