Manila took the early lead in the North Division of the Metropolitan Basketball Tournament (MBT) seniors by pulling off contrasting wins.
The All-Stars defeated 16-and-under champ Marikina, 79-72, last Sunday at the Makati Coliseum then clobbered Navotas, 113-71, on its homecourt, the San Andres Sports Complex, last Thursday behind the efforts of homegrown star Kimberly Olmoguiz.
The event, a pet project of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and backed by the PBA which has “Mobile App ng Bayan” Barangay 143 as co-presentor,
The 6-foot-1 Olmoguiz finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists, four steals, and a block in just 18 minutes of play.
In Thursday’s first game, Quezon City rebounded from a stinging 92-91 overtime defeat to San Juan by downing Navotas, 89-80, to become the second team to barge into the win column in the North Division.
16-and-under runner-up Parañaque leads the South Division after an opening day 83-75 win over Makati in the tournament which also has San Miguel Corporation, World Balance, and Higer Bus as major sponsors.
Las Piñas, Mandaluyong, Taguig, Pateros, and a squad from MMDA are bracketed in the South Division with Parañaque and Makati while competing with Manila, QC, Navotas, and Caloocan in the North Division are San Juan and Valenzuela for this 24-and-under tournament, which is also supported by Excellent Noodles, Nature’s Spring Water, 1-Pacman Partylist, Hopewell Sales Corp., Gatorade, Star Bread, Frabelle Foods, Regan Industrial Sales, Inc., Glitter.ph, Alcoplus, Primadonna and Archie’s Bespoke Bar + Grill.
