The 13th annual Filipino Canadian Basketball League of Yukon officially got underway on Oct. 19 with opening ceremonies and a pair of games at F.H. Collins Secondary School.
Things kicked off with each of the league’s teams being introduced and walking into the gym prior to the singing of both the Filipino and Canadian national anthems.
Athletes and fans then heard from a number of speakers, including FCBLY president Joselito Tobias, Basketball Yukon president Jason Bilsky, deputy premier and league member Ranj Pillai, MP Larry Bagnell and Conservative MP candidate Jonas Smith.
Players also took an oath of sportsmanship for the upcoming season.
A press release from the league prior to the opening ceremonies explained the hope is the league “will foster a strong united Filipino community through the camaraderie of sportsmanship.”
The first game of the new season was a contest between the Air North Jets and MPM in the league’s under 13 division.
The Jets won the game 56-43, with Miguel Portea leading the team with 16 points. Ethan Stoker was second in scoring with 13 points, with Brit Pagobo chipping in 12.
Other scorers for the Jets were Isiah Cabiso with six, Jeff Rumbaoa with five, and Carlo Magsucang and Erwin Cachola with two each.
RJ Williams led the way for MPM with 24 points in a losing effort. Pier Deleon added 13 points of his own and Ranga Dananjaya and Josh De Guzman each had three.
In the first game of the under 35 division, Domino’s defeated the Wolverines 136-78 in a blowout.
Josh Rumbaoa led all scorers with 38 for Domino’s, with major efforts from Chad Williams who had 27, Bryan Hermosa with 22, Ralph Hermosa with 19 and JB New who had 19 as well. Rounding out the 136 points was seven from Eman New and four from EJ New.
For the Wolverines, Kiiwaadin Swan had 17 and Robulack had 12 to lead the way. H. Benoit had eight, Parker Hobbis had seven, Muhamad Salim and Broden Cull had six each, Tanner Ulrich, Oriel and R. Benoit each had five, Orin White had four, and Cheeseman had three.
League play continued on Oct. 20 with over 35 division action. The Wolfpack played UC Crimson and Top Spot took on Tim Hortons. Results and scores from those games were unavailable.
Action continues this weekend with two games on Oct. 26 and two more on Oct. 27.
On Oct. 26, Viernes Janitorial plays Elias Dental at 6 p.m. and Kia/Subaru plays Tim Hortons at 7:30 p.m.
On Oct. 27, Shirley at Coldwell plays Silver at 6 p.m. and North 60 Petro plays the Wolfpack at 7:30 p.m.
All of those games take place at F.H. Collins.
Contact John Hopkins-Hill at john.hopkinshill@yukon-news.com