THE high school girls basketball team of Abellana National School (ANS) swept all slots for girls to the Alaska JrNBA and JrWNBA National Training Camp after the Cebu Regional Selection Camp.
Three rookie players—Daphne Nardo, Florence Jil Talas and Darliene Ragasajo —qualified to the NTC.
The school went three-for-three when all of its eligible players were selected to advance. Four girls should have advanced but the school’s best player—Ardelyn Delantes, niece of former professional basketball player Max Delantes—was overaged by one month.
A lot of the credit should go to their hard-working coaching staff of volunteer coaches Noel Talas, Del Gahudo and former Philippine Basketball Association pro Freddie Serafica a member of the 1976 Crispa team which won a PBA Grand Slam.
Their regular coach is Darwin Denoy who allows the volunteers plenty of leeway to train the girls as they see fit.
How good is the girls basketball team of ANS? The team made basketball history on its way to winning the girls high school title in the 25th Cebu City Olympics held last year with 109-0 victory over Tabunan Integrated School.
That ANS team prepared for the City Olympics by playing against other teams in the boys division of the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL) U-15 category. In a tune-up game before start of the Cebu City Olympics the team defeated college alumni squad As-Es Cebu Normal University Alumni, 62-45.
Serafica said the girls get the benefit of the best and most modern training regimen. But they’ve become really good because of their diligence and hard work. It also helped immensely that they have time to practice their sport because of the unique curriculum of ANS.
The school was named Abellana National School in 1993 by the virtue of the RA 3027. The same act authorized the offering of both Trade and General Curriculum which allows athletically gifted students to spend more time becoming the best they could be in athletics and team sports like football and basketball.
