MANILA—A team of young Filipino basketball players bagged the championship trophy and gold medals during the 3rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations Schools’ Games in Singapore on July 1-7.

The national team represented by the high school basketball team of San Beda College in Taytay, Rizal won over defending champion Malaysia.

“This is the first gold medal for the country in the many international high school basketball competitions the country participated in,” team manager Edilberto Abalos wrote in an email to the Department of Education.

“It feels great to be proud again after so many years, as the country has not been winning gold in the international arena. And this one is sweeter because it was accomplished by raw talents and we know of the Filipinos love and passion for basketball,” Abalos said.

“Our victory is for the Filipino people, country and flag,” he said.

The team is composed of the following: Francis Abarcar (#4), Van Abatayo (#5), Limuel Patenio (#6), Antonio Bonsubre, Jr. (#7), Ranbill Tongco (#8), Boden Miranda (#9), Louis Macapayag (#10), Mikhail Tee (#11), Arvin Tolentino (#12), Francis Munsayac (#13), Daryl Nazareno (#14), and Gideon Babilonia (#15).

Some of these players were also part of the delegation which won 3rd place (Bronze) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2010.

The Singapore tournament was participated in by the Philippines, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Philippine team was joined in Singapore by their head coach Britt Carlo Reroma, assistant coach Mark Jomelosa. Rosa Ligaya Domingo was also there as Chef de Mission. Domingo and Abalos are members of the DepEd Task Force on School Sports that oversees sports programs in public and private schools and manages the annual Palarong Pambansa.