We’re All in this Together

Written by:

Miguel Vera, Year 12

ISAC.

For the BSM athlete, this acronym is more than just a few letters; it represents a year’s worth of training and a year’s worth of sacrifice. For many, ISAC is about the glory that one can gain. For others, ISAC leads to heartbreak and feelings of inadequacy. For the BSM Boys Basketball Squad, ISAC was the formation of a true team.

Our basketball team entered the tournament with our heads held high. An aura of confidence and conviction pervaded the bus as we ventured to the unfriendly environment known as Brent Subic. Unfazed, the team ventured forth into battle as the bus filled with the manic chanting of the famed Frozen song, “Do you want to build a snowman?” Despite our playful exterior, inside, we were prepared for the potential challenges that the next three days would bring. Ultimately, our aim was to go hard or go home.

The first day could not have gone any better for the Boys Basketball Team. We started with an emphatic victory over CIS, only allowing the opposing squad to score a total of 4 points. Already, BSM boys were catching attention, and not just because of their good looks. However, our day did not end there. We later faced Southville, a team we knew would not go down without a fight. Initially, their dynamic duo of big men dominated the paint and relentlessly crashed our boards but their size was no match for Eirik and Hamish’s speed as BSM quickly regained the lead after a sequence of easy, fast-break layups. After all, “speed kills”. Although we managed to win the game by a narrow margin of 4 points, we knew that Southville was a team to lookout for.

The first game of the next day was against the home team, Brent Subic. A large crowd of home supporters gathered in hopes for seeing their team pull out a victory. Unfortunately, their cheers were quickly silenced by BSM’s lock-down defense and BSM, once again, came out victorious. The following two games followed a similar trend, with BSM defeating both Faith Mindanao and Brent Baguio. Amongst the competitors, a collective belief that the winners had already been decided began to brew.

On the final day, the team knew what was at stake. With a newfound focused mindset, we overpowered our first opponent, Brent Manila, and defeated them in a convincing fashion, with a 50-point deficit separating the two teams. With just an hour between the first game and the semi-finals, our athletes had to balance a mixture of relaxation and adrenaline from the previous game. Eventually, our opponents turned out to be the home team, Brent Subic, who we knew we could defeat if we worked collaboratively. Again, our team employed similar tactics as our first encounter – utilizing our lock-down defense to prevent Brent Subic from dictating the pace of the game. With a combination of well thought out half-court sets and fast-break outlets, the BSM basketball team marched their way to the ISAC finals. Now, not only did we have the support of the BSM community, but also other teams encouraged us to defeat our future opponents, Southville.

The moment we had all been waiting for arrived – the Championship game. We knew Southville would start the game with a vengeance, as memories of our Girls ISAC Basketball victory over their school haunted them. Their star, Number 8, came out with guns blazing by using his array of post moves and jump shots to weave his way through our defense. In spite of this, we kept the game close, led by the offense of our seasoned veterans, Alfonso Garcia and Eirik Stroem. By the time the 4^th quarter had approached, BSM had produced a 9-point lead over the opposing school. Gold was already in our grasps. Then, everything crumbled. A series of careless possessions and quality moves by Southville led to the score being all tied up. On a possession where our defense stood strong, an unlucky bounce landed in the hands of their star player, Number 8, which led to a subsequent putback and their team being up by 1. Now, the spectators and both benches of each team were on the edge of their seats. After Southville missed one of their free throws, an unsuccessful last moment ‘hail mary’ heave from Eirik to Hamish concluded our season.

As the other team’s supporters stormed the court, our BSM team collapsed on the floor, our heads in our hands. The team was stunned as the final buzzer sounded. Moments passed, as we remained planted on the bench, refusing to fathom the events that had just occurred. Compensatory comments seemed to have no effect on our feelings of despair at that moment. But Coach Luis reminded us that this was not the end. He reminded us that we produced one of the best, if not the best, basketball performances in the history of BSM. He reminded us that we should accept defeat with maturity and respect. He reminded us that, despite this defeat, we were still a team and that we should exit with our heads raised high.

Indeed, despite our shortcomings in the tournament, our team had bonded like none other before. The 10 male players that set out from Manila to Subic had now become a team. After all the team dinners, all the games played, all the moments spent together, our basketball team had achieved a different, perhaps more important, goal: becoming a brotherhood. The time I spent in Subic with this team will truly be cherished and I’m sure my teammates would agree.

I’d like to say a special thanks to firstly, our two coaches, Coach Luis and Coach Archie as well as our seniors, Shoko Choga, Mondi Yang, Alfonso Garcia (Our All-ISAC All-Star) and our captain, Eirik Stroem (The Longest Standing and Most Decorated ISAC Athlete in history).  

Hopefully, next year our team will go for gold.

Team Roster

Coach Luis Gonzales

Coach Archie

Eirik Stroem

Alfonso Garcia

Shoko Choga

Mondi Yang

Miguel Ayala

Miguel Vera

Raine Yang

Hamish McWilliam

Kai Stroem

Mark Kim

Written by:

Miguel Vera, Year 12

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