Jose Rizal University's backcourt is in young but capable hands as two high school scoring machines step onto the NCAA Season 101 stage to shape the Heavy Bombers' future.
Sean Salvador and Sanlea Peñaverde have proven themselves worthy of steering a revamped JRU this year after standing out as the top performers of their respective teams in the Season 100 juniors basketball tournament.
Salvador led the Mapua Red Robins in scoring, dropping an average of 14 points together with 2.44 assists and 1.11 steals while Peñaverde was also a star for the San Sebastian Staglets, posting 24.11 markers a game laced with 7.56 rebounds, 2.67 dimes, 2.89 steals, and 0.22 blocks on the way to winning a Mythical Five and All-Defensive Team inclusions.
They now join forces in Kalentong to breathe new life into JRU in bid to revive the school's Final Four dreams.
Of course, no one is more excited about this tandem than Salvador and Peñaverde themselves.
"Sa amin ni Sanlea, hindi na kami bago sa isa’t-isa. Dati kasi match-up na kami sa juniors and ngayon magkakampi na kami," Salvador told GMA News Online during the league's media day last month.
"Sinasabi ko lang sa kanya na mag-focus lang kami sa system kasi maraming expectations sa amin as rookies."
[For me and Sanlea, we're not strangers. We used to match up in the juniors and this time we're teammates... I just tell him we should focus on the system because there are a lot of expectations on us as rookies.]
Peñaverde was equally ecstatic, especially that he also gets to team up with other up-and-coming rookies like Allan Laurenaria, Yuri Duque, and Harry Herrera.
Laurenaria and Duque both suited up for the Red Robins last season with the former bagging the Rookie of the Year citation while Herrera was with Peñaverde during their final high school run with the Staglets.
"Nu’ng nalaman ko na magiging teammate ko si Sean at Laurenaria, naisip ko na malakas kami pero paghihirapan pa namin lalo," Peñaverde said.
[When I learned that I'd be teammates with Sean and Laurenaria, I thought we would be a strong team, but we will work harder.]
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
