SBP-SMART Hosts eventful second edition of the women's 3X3 Tournament at the Meralco Orange Fit Center

21 participating teams were divided into five pools, where they played four elimination games, and top-seeded teams from each pool advanced to the semifinals.

Compared to the first leg, more school-based teams joined in the festivities with CEU, FEU, and Diliman Preparatory School on board. 

Gilas 1, Gilas 2, NU 1, and NU 2 dominated the competition, emerging as the outright top seeds in their respective groups. 

NU A won decisively against NU B, 10-3, in the first semis matchup of the day as the former relied on their athleticism and defense. 

In the other semis tiff, it was Gilas 1 who won against Gilas 2 in a highly-contested affair, 17-15.

Gilas 2 finished in third place after ekeing out a 20-18 victory against the interior-heavy NU B side. 

Rounding out the tourney was Gilas 1 prevailing against the gritty NU A side, 17-12, after the former unleashed a 5-0 blast to ice the game. 

With the second leg already in the books, SBP 3x3 program director Ronnie Magsanoc likes what he sees and he plans on raising the bar for this initiative. 

“Natutuwa ako sa enthusiastic turnout of the players. Marami ‘yung school-based who represented the sport which is important. Not only are we holding the competition for its sake, but we want to raise the bar in terms of elite competition. We plan on this to be a regular tournament for these up-and-coming players,” shared Magsanoc.

“Kailangan tuloy-tuloy ‘yung nilalaruan nila para makita rin nila na meron silang malalaruan na regular. It’s laying down the avenue for them to play consistently and regularly against elite teams,” he added.