MANILA — The match-ups for the seeding games in the 2019 National Basketball Training Center National Finals were unveiled Thursday night following a draw that was streamed live on Facebook.
The Narvacan National High School was drawn as the 25th seed and will take on Isabela Colleges, which was drawn at 32nd.
On the other hand, 26th-seeded Sta. Clarita International School will face off with 31st-seeded Zamboanga del Sur National High School.
In another contest, 27th-seeded University of Baguio was drawn to face 30th-seeded Dolores National High School of Eastern Samar.
In the last match-up for the lower seeds, 28th-seeded Holy Trinity College of General Santos will have a tough task as it will go up against 29th-seeded Lyceum, featuring Batang Gilas and NBTC 24 member Mac Gaudana.
The draw for the ninth to 16th seeds was made as well.
Italy Europe Proudly Pinoy was drawn ninth and will take on 16th-seeded Hope Christian High School.
The FEU-FERN was drawn as the 10th seed and will face off with number 15 Durham Crossover.
The other Canadian side in the NBTC tourney, Top Flight Hoops, was drawn as the 11th seed and will go up versus 14th-seeded Camp David.
The other 9-16 tie will have 12th-seeded FilAm Sports USA, featuring USA Basketball Youth Team star Jalen Green, against 13th-seeded AusPinoy.
The seeding round, scheduled right on the first day of the national finals on March 18, is not an outright knockout round.
However, the results will greatly impact on how the knockout stages, which will begin on the next day, will look like.
In the 9-16 seeding games, the winning teams will take on either 21st seed Perpetual Help-Biñan, 22nd seed St. Louis of Don Bosco School, 23rd seed West Negros University, or 24th seed Sto. Domingo National High School of Legazpi depending on which match-up they are in.
On the other hand, the not-so-victorious sides will take on either the Calayan Educational Foundation (17th seed), St. Augustine School in Pampanga (18th), Southern Philippines College (19th), or St. Mary's College of Tagum (20th).
Meanwhile, winning is very essential in the 25-32 seeding games as a loss will reduce the teams in the said group to an uphill climb against the top four teams of the tournament, Nazareth School of National University, Malayan, Southwestern University, and San Beda.
But even a win will not guarantee a less tough playoff road for the teams in the said group as fifth-seeded Ateneo, sixth-seeded La Salle Greenhills, seventh-seeded University of San Jose-Recoletos, and eighth-seeded Letran are waiting in the wings. (PNA)
