In the past 2 Boston Summer invitationals, we’ve seen the teams from the NY-NJ Metro area dominate the tournament. Boston was the birth city of the NYCE NY-NJ Metro Allstar team where they went 3-0. In 2009 North Jersey sent their Juniors over defeating the Maryland Pistons twice and the Boston Nightz/Jr. Celtics twice.
This year fields just the same amount of teams in the past years, just with more diversity and spark. The proud delegation of mixed asians, Boston-MASAE always sends out teams with passion and desire that which goes hand-in-hand with their talent. A team that will fight till the end and represents their Boston traits with the utmost pride. Keep your eye out for standouts Kevin Bui to carry the team on his shoulder vs. the powerhouse teams invading their backyard. A regular asian tournament participant and a regular in the PIBNA Labor Day tournaments, look for Boston-MASAE to defend their home turf.
A newcomer to the Boston MASAE Summer invitational are the Chinese USAB Warriors of Queens, NY. Usually very competitive in this age range, the Warriors will be sending a team of veterans and championship caliber players. Top placers in the Pre-NACBA 18&U & 15&U division as well as a championship appearance in the NACBA Memorial Day Chinese Nationals 15&U division, this team has the caliber to win and will be a very strong a opponent backed by prize player Devin Figueroa.
USAB Warriors Squad. (Queens, NY)
A returning team is another local Chinese group from the Boston area, the Boston Knights. Their origins go back to the 80′s and 90′s, and their tradition of playing the game continues on with this young squad. They will most likely have the biggest team in the tournament. A local rival to Boston-MASAE, last year’s Knights players lost to Boston-MASAE and the North Jersey Knights twice. Look for the Chinese Boston Knights to regroup and make more noise in this year’s tournament.
We now turn to the Fil-Am teams looking to make a stand against some new competition. The North Jersey Knights will be looking to repeat their Championship won in 2009 despite having no players from that Championship team. They bring in new faces from the North Bergen and Jersey City areas. Will this new group be able to match-up with the powerhouse teams already in the tournament? Only time will tell. The black and red are always competitors.
Boston Summer Invitational 2009 Champions.
A new Fil-Am team attending will be JSAG-Jersey Shore from South NJ. This team is comprised of NABA veterans. Most notably, previous Boston Tournament winners, with Carlo “Big Black” DeChavez winning in 2008 with the 1st NYCE team, as well as Nikko “The Rhino” Guirao who played with the North Jersey Junior Knights team that won in 2009.
Army of Two. Carlo 'Big Black' deChavez (left), Nikko "The Rhino" Guirao (Right)
They are backed by a team of hungry veterans, and have been preparing for the NABA Labor Day tournament by participating in AAU tournaments and several Men’s leagues.
A big name team making their 1st delegation appearance in the division is legendary SIPAG-NYC of Staten Island. Led by Captains Penny Penalosa and Ranier “Rain Man” Garcia, each whom have won in Boston with NYCE and North Jersey, bring a new group of ballers as they will be contending with their NABA Intercity team of the SIPAG Juniors. Their team consists of players from different corners of the NY-NJ Area, bringing together the top role players any team could value. They might be one of the top sleeper teams reaching the tournament this year.
Captains. Ranier 'Rain Man' Garcia (15) and Penny Penalosa (2).
Back in Memorial Day weekend, JSAG hosted their own tournament with the Bantam division Championship coming down to SIPAG vs. JSAG. JSAG renewed their rivalry with SIPAG as they came back from a 20 point deficit. Parents and filipino community basketball fans have been looking forward for a Junior division showdown between JSAG and SIPAG, both teams having players switching sides over the course of the NABA offseason. The possibility of a faceoff in Boston for the 1st time this summer has been talked about since the Bantam division Championship.
Formerly the GMA Pinoy TV Allstar Team, Dream Large is the new force in town.
We round off the 17&U teams with a heavy favorite Fil-Can Toronto Allstar team. Formerly GMA Lakan Pinoy TV, Dream Large Basketball has taken over the top players of Toronto, bringing together some of NABA, PIBNA and FBA’s finest of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).
RJ Ramirez, one of the top players his age in Eastern Canada.
The Dream Large Basketball group is lead by the Ramirez brothers, COACH Phil, a Lakan Open Alumni, and younger brother and star player, RJ Ramirez, a PIBNA and FBA phenom. They will be leading a team of Fil-Can allstars whom have their share of championship hardwood from all Filipino-Labor Day TOurnaments in PIBNA, NABA and FBA. Court Generals Jenno Almasol, and Jeremiah “J.Henry” Valmadrid will be taking the point guard responsibilities, both also being NYCE representative of Toronto.
NABA'09, Jenno Almasol (32) of North York vs. Penny Penalosa (2) of North Jersey in 2nd round play.
RJ Ramirez, & Paulo Reyes are the 1-2 combo that compliment each other, and will most likely carry the load of scoring for the team.
The DLB allstar team will also be complimented with deadly sharpshooters Cyle Egamino and AC Hagoriles. They will have the strongest frontcourts with top enforcer bigmen, RJ Beloso, Jerome “The Tank” Yumul, Janzen Calaoa, and high flyer JR Manabat.
Jerome 'The Tank' Yumul (16) vs. Carlo 'Big Black' DeChavez. Matchup dating back to NABA '06. Jerome is 5-0 vs. Carlo.
The toronto team is rounded off with RiseofTheSon spotlight player, the smooth Chris Baltazar and Josh Bulda. Players branching out from Toronto powerhouse teams of Vaughan, North York, Dolce-Toronto, Scarborough Falcons and Lakan, they are the heavy favorite to win.
The presence of the Dream Large Allstar group in this year’s tournament has hinted on a possible future showdown with NY-NJ Metro Allstar team, NYCE, either in the Boston MASAE Invitational or other asian tournaments along the east coast.
This year’s Boston Invitational will be fielding the most teams in the Junior division, as well as the toughest competition since the tournament started in 2008. Stay tuned for the tournament wrap up. Good luck to all out of area teams and their travel to Boston.
Cyle Egamino. One of Dream League's sharp shooters.
Chris Baltazar (#1) . Purely Smooth.
RiseOfTheSon power rankings:
#1 – Dream Large Basketball (Toronto,ON) – Filipino
#2 – USAB Warriors (Queens, NY) – Chinese
#3 – JSAG (Jersey Shore, NJ) – Filipino
#4 – Boston MASAE (Boston, MA) – Mixed Asian
#5 – SIPAG-NYC (Staten Island, NY) – Filipino
#6 – Boston Knights (Boston, MA) – Chinese
#7 – North Jersey (Jersey City,NJ) – Filipino
