Puerto Princesa—Jay Falsado struck with 19 points to help power the Dasmarinas Monarchs to a 101-85 demolition of Mariveles for the boys' under-15 basketball crown yesterday at the Philippine State University gymnasium.
The Monarchs' cage title conquest came as Baguio formally earned the overall crown with a total of 61 gold, 45 silver and 66 bronze medals at the close of the 2019 Batang Pinoy National Finals here.
This earned Baguio the top prize of P3 million, which will given in terms of sports equipment courtesy of the Philippine Sports Commission.
Dasmarinas finished with two more medals to settle for 15th place. And that's after Jeralyn Mae San Diego and Mark Jay Bacojo took home the 13-15 year old golds of the blitz action in chess at the PSU Performing Arts Theatre.
The 14-year-old San Diego took home her third gold medal after bouncing back from a sixth-round loss to Cebu City's Edelyn Vosotros and prevailing over General Santos City woodpusher Jenaica Julom in final round.
This gave San Diego 4.5 points after seven rounds for her third gold after she earlier topped the rapid and the standard categories.
“Thankful kami. Hindi namin akalain na makakarating kami sa finals,” said Monarchs' coach Wilson Ang after Dasmarinas swept their six-game elimination round assignment and got past Bacolod's Taytung High School, 88-75, in the semifinals.
Mandaue City settled for third place in basketball following a 65-59 triumph over Bacolod City.
In the distaff side, Cagayan de Oro ruled the girls' side with a 108-66 win over Iloilo.
After San Diego dispatched Vosotros, she relied on a better tiebreak over Cebu Province's Alphrecca Gonzales, who settled for the silver.
“Pinilit ko kasing manalo kay Vosotros, kaya natalo ako at nag-tiebreak. Pero, happy ako at naka-3 golds ako,” said San Diego, a 14 year old student for First United Christian School.
Dasmarinas ended up with a a total of six out of the 12 golds in this weeklong meet organized by the Philippine Sports Commission and backed by Milo.
Bacojo (rapid) and Michael Concio (standard) gave Dasmarinas its other golds.
Allan Gabriel Hilario of Pulilan, Bulacan copped the boys’ 12-under blitz mint while Ruelle Canino of Cagayan de Oro claimed her second gold in the girls’ 12-under blitz.
Cebu City, behind Aldrener Igot, Jr.’s eight-gold sweep in archery, is second with a 34-34-29 (gold-silver-bronze) haul.
Davao City (31-24-37) follows, with Laguna (27-24-18) and Quezon City (25-25-23), in fourth to fifth places.
Cebu will earn around P2.5 million for its second-place finish, while Davao City gets P2 million worth of sports equipment. P1.5 million goes to Laguna and P1 million will be handed to Quezon City in terms of equipment.