Cebuano studs rise in fourth week of NBTC 24

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Kai Sotto kept his stronghold of the pole position in this week’s Chooks-to-Go/National Basketball Training Center 24 power rankings even as the top six kept their places.

SJ Belangel of Ateneo was still the top point guard in the country over Joel Cagulangan of La Salle Greenhills, while UP commit Will Gozum of Mapua, L-Jay Gonzales of FEU, and Rhayyan Amsali of NU maintained their position in the top half of the rankings.

One of the week four’s biggest movers was Chiang Kai Shek guard John Galinato, who steered the Blue Dragons to the MMBL crown over San Beda to propel himself to the 12th spot.

CESAFI standouts Beirn Laurente of University of Visayas also moved into the top 20, while Alex Visser of Sacred Heart High School made his debut as this week’s newest entry.

Here is the list for the fourth week of Chooks-to-Go NBTC 24, with last week’s rank in the parenthesis:

1. Kai Sotto, center, Ateneo (1)
2. SJ Belangel, guard, Ateneo (2)
3. Joel Cagulangan, guard, La Salle Greenhills (3)
4. Will Gozum, center, Mapua (4)
5. L-Jay Gonzales, guard, FEU-Diliman (5)
6. Rhayyan Amsali, forward, NU (6)
7. Dave Ildefonso, forward, Ateneo (8)
8. RJ Abarrientos, guard, FEU-Diliman (9)
9. CJ Cansino, forward, UST (7)
10. Aaron Fermin, center, Arellano (12)
11. Clint Escamis, guard, Mapua (10)
12. John Galinato, guard, Chiang Kai Shek (15)
13. Inand Fornilos, forward, CSB-LSGH (13)
14. Warren Bonifacio, center, Mapua (16)
15. Evan Nelle, guard, San Beda (14)
16. Terrence Fortea, guard, NU (11)
17. Joem Sabandal, guard, Adamson (22)
18. Raven Cortez, center, La Salle Zobel (18)
19. Joaqui Manuel, forward, Ateneo (17)
20. Beirn Laurente, guard, UV (23)
21. Alex Visser, forward, SHS-Ateneo de Cebu (N/A)
22. Mac Guadaña, guard, Lyceum (19)
23. Harvey Pagsanjan, guard, Hope Christian (20)
24. Maui Cruz, guard, EAC (21)

Every week, a panel of coaches, sportswriters, and a statistician converge to come up with the weekly rankings to determine the top 24 high school players in the UAAP, CESAFI-NBTC, MMBL, and FCAAF tournaments, together with the recently concluded NCAA competition.

The players were ranked based on the following criteria: league stats, impact in team, team record, leadership, defense, offense, and level of competition.

The top 24 players still on the board for the power rankings in early March will be picked to play in the SM-National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) High School All-Star Game later that month at Mall of Asia Arena.