This year’s Juniors team (age 16 below) were a fine blend of veterans from last year’s stellar team with exciting newcomers who added instant firepower and depth to our line-up. 

Returning players GJ Rosales, Kai Vega, Will Moreo and Maverick Umahon were joined by freshmen Dylan Castellano, Paul delaCosta, Jose Layug, Timothy Ho, Mican Meneses, Teejay Ferraren, Mel Meneses, Tim Balaquiot and crowd favorite, Omar Caponpon.

Our first game against eventual champion Toronto was a cliffhanger to the very end.  Although our boys could not seem to get their bearing early in the game, we managed to keep the game close at hand.  Behind by 8 points going into the last two minutes, Jersey Shore staged a fiery rally.  Down to the last 15 seconds and behind by two points, Mican Meneses throw in a rainbow from downtown. Pandemonium broke loose as our countless fans cheered on the boys to victory… I almost dropped my camera when I saw that desperation shot go in.  However, on the ensuing play, Toronto came up with the winning shot to end the game despite the tough defensive formation thrown at them by our boys.  It was a heart-breaking loss indeed, but the boys kept their heads up for the games ahead.

For the second game against North York , Coach Alex gave the boys a pep talk and shifted strategy by changing the starters.  This turned out to be the wake-up call needed to ignite this team – we won handily by over 20 points!

The next day, Sunday at 8am, Jersey Shore was pitted against home team Glendale Heights .  It was nip-and-tuck for most of the game despite the opposing team being a much taller one.  As luck would have it, technicalities of the game, especially the inefficiencies of the timer, were crucial in sealing our fate.  We lost this one to exit the tournament.

Despite the set-back, we remain optimistic about next year’s plans.  Some of the boys are moving up into the Juvenile Division (age 19 below) and we now have the opportunity to revive this age division team.  Since most of the team is composed of newcomers, we will have an intact nucleus for next year’s Juniors team.

Kudos to Coach Alex, Asst, Coach Papa Rey and the rest of the Juniors team, along with their parents, who made our Juniors Team 2006 a memorable one!

Here are some pics of that first game for your enjoyment:

Opening Parade

Team Huddle before game time

Dylan (#5), Mican (#10) and Teejay (#33) get set for a foul shot rebound