The stage is set. Team Aiden (black) and Team Patience (white) are practicing on their sides of the court as the seats fill with students, occupying every spot. The excitement and anticipation from the bleachers were palpable with energy diffusing deeply into the players as shared by Aiden Olaes, captain of Team Aiden and Co-President of Samahan. On Feb. 4 the Filipino Samahan club hosted their annual basketball game.

“[It was] insanely energetic and exceeded our expectations,” Olaes said. “Patience, [the other captain], and I honestly thought that our attendance would be down due to the construction blocking access to the gym. But it was the exact opposite. We had almost both sides of the bleachers filled up and in every single position the gym was roaring. Even when the players would miss their shots, the audience participation was incredibly loud and energetic.”

As the players got their last few minutes of practice in, they met in the middle of the court with the clock set, and the game began. Within the first few minutes, Team White had scored two two-pointers, beating Team black 4-0, a strong start. Jamison Jones, Samahan Historian and player for Team White, considered Varsity basketball player, Oshen Peña, to be the primary threat.

“I feel like the only areas we were really lacking in were defense. Oshen made five three-pointers that game and his team had 16 points and it just felt like we were not putting enough pressure on him,” Jones said.

However, it would be the offense that proved to be Team White’s strength. After a period intercepted passes by opposing teams, a Team White player would move in to score a three-pointer, but not before Team Black scored a three-pointer of their own. Nearing the end of the first half with only 25 seconds left on the clock, Team Black would score another three points by senior Oshen Peña.

“I practiced and the shots that I made were the ones that I always practiced every day with my teammates and coaches, so it definitely translated in that game,” Peña said.

While he may have been one of the few people scoring, Peña was seen displaying proper sportsmanship and speaking quite favorably of his teammates, embodying the largely playful aspect of this particular match.

“I liked my team members,” Peña said. “I had my brother on my team and I also had some of my close friends, some people I have met over the years, especially after attending Bonita. I think they did well. Everyone was passing the ball trying to get everyone included and had good energy.”

While the hype from the spectators was undeniable, what could not be exactly seen were the feelings of the players actually involved, feelings which bled into their playstyle for the round.

“The players were awesome and I loved my team,” Olaes said “The energy was there, everyone was hyping not only themselves but others up, and everyone was passing the ball when necessary. We were having a blast.”

Such feelings of hype may have aided in play with each player supporting each other wherever they could, it should be noted that the hype can be detrimental to effective play. Patience Cate Abiva, Co-President and captain for Team White, had this to say about the environmental effects on her team.

“I think [they could work on] their patience. They were all very excited, which I completely understand. It was a very big event. They could wait a second before telling me what to do. But other than that, they did really well. They were all good players,” Abiva said.

The first half of the game ends with Team Black at six points and Team White at nine points. It would be at this point that this would provide the team captains some time to plan and change the teams. For Oleas, his plan regarding playtime was this.

“I absolutely wanted to make sure that everybody got equal playing time. I made sure to give the seniors on my team slightly more play time than my other players as it was their last ever Samahan game, but overall I made sure to maintain rotations equally to ensure everybody got the playing time that they wanted. It was only a bit difficult as we only had 14 minutes of total game time, but I would make rotations every 3-4 minutes,” Oleas said.

After some time, each team got back out and continued playing. With the ball in their possession, Team White would play more defense rather than attempt to score, a ploy that ended at roughly 45 seconds in. Within three minutes, Team White scored a three and a two-pointer, with Team Black shortly scoring their own three at roughly the four-minute mark. The score was now 14-9.

Despite this, Team White had lost their momentum, likely coming down to their offensive approach in the previous half. These attempted shots brought up the mood, displaying the crowd’s and players’ ability to enjoy a game for the fun of it.

“In my opinion, basketball is one of, if not, the most fun and entertaining sports to not only play but watch,” Olaes said. 

One of the strongest moments of the game however occurred as a result of this high energy. At around 5:16, as Team white had the ball in their possession, they would attempt a long pass which resulted in the ball nearly falling out of bounds. However, a member of the crowd saved the ball from going out of bounds and handed it to black, allowing the game to continue as players remained focused on maintaining the flow.

“I was yelling down the court on a fast break, I pulled [the ball] from far away and I hit it in front of everyone and they went crazy. The first thing in my mind when I got the ball was that I wanted to shoot it, so I saw that I had the space and I had to convince myself to shoot it and I took it,” Peña said.

After a minute, Team Black would finally score another three at around 3:13 via another play by Peña. Team Black scored one more point at 2:40 as the result of a free throw. Yet the score was only 14-13, a close match with Team Patience still in the lead. A criticism from within Team Black team would be their focus on offense, a similar issue afflicting Team White.

“We all did well. It is just that some of us were interested in our shots, but that is okay because it happens. [And] my ball handling and driving more to the basket [could be worked on] because I usually just shoot it, but I need to implement more of everything else into my game.” Peña said.

Just ten seconds after their previous score, Team Black would once again score another three points, pulling ahead of Team white 16-14. The previous momentum from Team White was intercepted by Team Black, and they were on the move. As a result of this, Team White would end up changing their strategy when they were forced to be on defense.

“We would call it on the court and we would tell each other, ‘Hey, can you stay on Oshen,’ or ‘Stay on Cortez,’ because the round was based on them so we adjusted accordingly. We would always try to get both of them out of an awkward situation where they cannot shoot, and our offense was really efficient. We could always set up a situation where we could score,” Jones said.

It had been around a minute and a half since Team Black scored the two-pointer and the rollercoaster continued. Missed shot after missed shot with a few interceptions interspersed intermittently. Yet just as the last second of the final full minute struck, White finally scored the last three of the game with the crowd shouting with anticipation and awe. When the final seconds came however, there was one last semi-serious throw from Team Black to no avail. Team white had won 16-18. 

“I think that overall, everyone did a really good job. It was really fun seeing them collaborate and seeing what they wanted to do with each other, especially when they made the decisions on who was going to shoot. Honestly, I was very proud of them. They all did very well. The teamwork was there despite only meeting for the first time on the day of the game, but they played really well,” Abiva said.

Samahan leaders were all surprised at how well the game turned out. Olaes previously stated his and Abiva’s concerns regarding how many would actually show up to watch, yet both were surprisingly pleased with the overall outcome.

“I feel that this is a very big event. I am very grateful for the opportunity to hold [it],” Abiva said. “I think it is a really good way to bring our community together as we do not have many things going on at our school, so it was really nice to hold something that everyone was able to enjoy. It did not matter if you were in Samahan or Filipino in general. It was just nice to see everyone supporting our club.”

When discussing the idea of Samahan having annual basketball games, the lead members expressed great interest in maintaining this tradition for future prospects. Yet the club leaders have also expressed a few concerns regarding annual matches such as these.

“I think it is super healthy for the club. Every single time we host one, there is always an amazing turnout,” Jones said. “All the bleachers are always filled and our club gets a boost in popularity every single time. It is one of our best events where we can confirm more people come to our meetings. But then there is also the fact that we do not want to be seen just for the basketball game. Yes we are Filipino, we do play basketball, but we are not a basketball club. We are trying to represent our heritage and basketball is included in that.”

Their goal with this was meant to be a positive cultural exchange, displaying a fun aspect of Filipino culture that many people here on campus can resonate with. Yet the problem that he is outlining is that the event could overshadow the cultural sharing that Samahan is trying to do at Bonita Vista. 

“I can see where [Jones] is coming from. For Samahan to just be known as ‘that club throwing a basketball game this Wednesday’ with no real recognition for our actual club meetings and other activities would definitely be discouraging,” Oleas said. “Our officers put a lot of work into planning and hosting meetings as well as activities both in and out of school for our community and for that to be overseen by one singular basketball game kind of hurts. I want our club to be put on the map for our actual cultural activities and meetings themselves rather than just a fun basketball game.”

However, even with these underlying issues, the staff are still happy with what they accomplished. With an intensely invested crowd,hard work and cooperation from the respective teams, the staff are already anticipating their next events.

“The basketball game was a really great turnout and we do plan on having similar events in the future such as a Samahan volleyball game or a Samahan versus Black Student Union (BSU) game. Our officers will definitely get to work on that,” Olaes said.