GBL-ITE Cup playoff rounds start Dec. 15

The Garapan Basketball League announced that the opening round of its playoff schedule tips off on Dec. 15 at the Garapan Basketball Court.

The first game starts at 6:30pm followed by the 8pm nightcap.

The playoffs will be played under a single-elimination format with a best-of-three championship series.

There are a few regular season continuation matches yet to finish up, but the playoffs should run as scheduled, weather permitting.

During breaks of the action there will be various side games such as a 3-point contest and a buzzer beater challenge.

In addition, fans can vote now on GBL’s Facebook pages at Garapan GBL or Garapan Basketball League for the Best Player and Best in Sportsmanship awards.

Pennant champion Konflikt-IT&E went undefeated in the eliminations with a 7-0 win-loss record, including two forfeits in its last two assignments. The team received an automatic bid into the semifinals.

Then comes Proa in second place with a 5-2 card, while Mobil currently holds the third spot with an even 3-3 standing.

FGC, Blue Haus-Satbahi, and the Ol’Aces are all knotted up at 2-3, while Andocks is at 1-5.

These standings were adjusted as a result of Running Rebels pulling out of the league for failing to submit its entrance fee during GBL’s weeklong game suspension.

The Rebels are made up mostly of Rollers Basketball Club players and were positioned solidly in third place with a 3-1 slate before being ousted.

Coincidentally, coming into the start of the season, the GBL made claims of working alongside the RBC group to fulfill its goal of contributing to the Garapan Community Outreach Program.

“It was unfortunate that the Rebels were unable to keep competing, but we still plan on working together with the RBC in the future,” assured Perez yesterday over the phone.

Perez claimed that the GBL is hosting a youth sports clinic for the Garapan youth early next year and even has plans of inviting a U.S. certified physical therapist to teach players how to prevent and treat minor injuries sustained while playing sports.

RBC and Rebels head coach Joe Diaz did not comment in detail about the Rebels’ dismissal, but did disclose that he came up short with the fee because of some new allocation rules that were recently initiated by his sponsors.

In any rate, the GBL is also announcing the start of its U17 Youth League some time early next year.

“We are inviting all interested teams and coaches to email us at gbl670@yahoo.com if you want to reserve a slot in the competition,” stated Perez in an email on Thursday. Visit GBL’s Facebook pages for updates more information.

Perez also announced that he started his own non-profit organization called the Garapan Sports Club back in mid-November.

At the beginning of the GBL season, Perez claimed that the league was organized under the United Chinese Sports Club, which also used to manage the QQ Car Rental Basketball Cup series under Perez in recent years.

Perez assures “no harm, no foul” on the switch as he was the lone person in charge of running the GBL in the first place. He also said that he opted out of his former organization because of a lack of accessibility to the UCSC board members, who were often off-island.

“I resigned from the UCSC and decided to start my own organization in Garapan. This way I don’t have to wait anymore on board members when making day-to-day decisions,” said Perez yesterday.