Final Four, All-Star Game highlight NBTC action today

Baser Amer dropped by the SM NBTC and gave a pep talk.

The defending champions and three top Metro Manila high schools comprise the SM-National Basketball Training Center Div I Final Four cast, as Group Stage action concluded on Tuesday.

From 700 participating high schools, Chiang Kai Shek College, Nazareth-National University, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, and San Beda-Taytay came out as the division winners.

The Tiong Lian champions defeated guest Canadian squad Durham Crossover and St. Robert International Academy from Iloilo to top Group C, as they will face the UAAP champions in the first  semifinal matchup. The Bullpups easily crushed Tay Tung High School of Bacolod and Assumption Montessori School from Cagayan de Oro to top Group B.

The other semifinal matchup sees the Magis Eagles, which eked past guest Thai squad Traill International School and overrun Southern City Colleges of Zamboanga to top Group D, go up against San Beda, the team they defeated in the final to claim the championship last year at the Meralco Gym, 82-78. The Red Cubs easily dispatched Lyceum of Cavite and Assumption Colleges from Davao to top Group A.

In Div II, Luzon squads bested their VisMin counterparts in their own Group Stage to set up their own Final Four.

Lucena's Maryhill College will face Laguna's Rex Dei Academy in one matchup, while Pampanga's Angeles University Foundation will face La Salle-Lipa in the other matchup.

The Div I and II semifinal winners will duke it out for the title on the morning of March 17.

Also slated to take place today is the fifth edition of the NBTC All-Star Game. There will be a new wrinkle with this edition, as it introduces a second game involving just the Div II teams.

Coaching in the Div I All-Stars are Jeff Napa and JB Sison, while the tandem of Kiefer Ravena and Von Pessumal, as well as Mike Tolomia and Russel Escoto will serve as bench tacticians for the Div II All-Stars.

Yesterday, the All-Stars got the chance to have a pep talk from a couple of collegiate legends in Baser Amer and LA Revilla.

The Mahindra playmaker shared that “For us who grew up in the provinces, it is harder. So that means we have to work harder. You hear the term ‘hard work’ all the time but it real. That is the secret of your success, your determination to succeed and rise above what you have.”

As for the Meralco ballhandler, he shares that “there should be no shortcuts. You have to put in extra work. My goal was just to go to college and not have to pay my tuition. Anything else was a bonus.”