Team CamSur romps 3-on-3 national crown

By Jason B. Neola QUEZON CITY --- Team Camarines Sur valiantly dribbled the ball and hit the ring for points to win this year’s 2nd edition of Ginebra San Miguel 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament Finals held Sept. 3 before a mammoth crowd at Smart Araneta Coliseum here. Gawyn Fernandez, who stands 6-foot-3, took charge in the end game to help Camarines Sur clinch the 2017 Ginebra San Miguel 3-on-3 Basketball Championship. Fernandez drained the pressure-packed freebie with 34.0 seconds remaining to give Camarines Sur the go-ahead against La Union, 14-13. La Union had a chance to steal victory, but Jonathan Ablao missed on his 3-point attempt and Firmorico Francisco’s potential game-tying tip rimmed out at the buzzer. A total of 16 teams vied for the two final slots of the 3-on-3 Basketball cage fest. Teams from the provinces of Aklan, Camarines Sur, Cavite, Cebu, Davao, Isabela, La Union, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Quezon, and Tacloban, and the cities of Antipolo, Batangas, Butuan, Las Pinas and Manila survived the regional qualifying tournaments held in different barangays nationwide to enter the semifinal phase. The Camarines Sur team of Fernandez, Dam Michael Martin Uy, Daniell Martin Uy, and Raphael Jude de Vera trounced all its appointed rival teams in the 16-team single elimination, up to the semifinal round, and eventually the final round. Camarines Sur edged Antipolo, 21-19 in their semi-final duel while La Union clipped Las Pinas, 14-12. The two remaining teams, Camarines Sur and La Union, then faced each other in the championship game last Sunday before the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel-Star Hotshots PBA game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Ginebra San Miguel Inc. is giving young and promising ballers the chance to move a step closer to their dreams and walk in the footsteps of their hoops idols in the 3-on-3 National Championships which now has entered its second year.