Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association

The countdown begins.

Season 45 tips off this September 2026 as teams across Metro Manila prepare for another journey on the Road to Greatness. New rivalries, new opportunities, and the same passion for the game.

Who's ready for Season 45?

In Tiong Lian history, Xavier School owns the most championships in the Aspirants division with nine.

CKSC won the last two stagings in 2012 and 2013.

Saint Stephen's High School took home the championship hardware in the inaugural staging of the Aspirants division in 2000-01, beating Xavier in the finals.

Uno High School took the crown in 2001-02, dethroning SSHS in the finals.

So young, so good.

Isaac Jules Lim, as a 12-year-old, sixth-grade exploded for 61 points in Uno High School's 88-83 overtime loss to CKSC on January 21, 2007. Lim scored 46 points in the fourth quarter and five-minute extension.

Lim's 61-pointer was the highest scoring output by an Aspirants player in Tiong Lian history.

Four years later on February 5, 2011 at the CKSC gymnasium, 13-year-old Mark Joseph Nunez racked up 60 points for Hope Christian High School in a victory over Grace Christian College.

Nunez wound up with an average of 42 points per game in six appearances with scores of 26-34-46-42-60-44.

It was the highest scoring clip by an Aspirants player in Tiong Lian history.

Remembering John Vincent (JV) Gallego, who crossed the Great Divide in an auto mishap Saturday early morning.

Gallego is an outstanding Tiong Lian product, having played for the Chiang Kai Shek College team that won the title in the 14-Under Aspirants division in 2012 with a 2-1 finals decision over Xavier School, cutting short the Golden Stallions' nine-year championship reign.

It was the Blue Dragons' first-ever crown in the 14-Under Aspirants division, which was established in 2001.

In the best-of-three Finals, CKSC lost the series opener, 85-77, at the CKSC gymnasium, as Xavier hotshot Christian Tyler Tio knocked in 31 points, negating the efforts of Fran Yu and Gallego, who netted 28 and 23 points, respectively.

CKSC, which was coached by Arsenio Dysangco, equalized in Game Two, 112-71, on Valentine's Day, at the Uno HS gym as five players registered in twin-figure scores - including Gallego, 30, Yu, 21 (including five triples), and Jonas Tibayan, 13. Tio racked up 22 scores.

In the series-deciding Game Three, also at the Uno HS gym, on Feb. 16, the Blue Dragons won all the marbles with an 82-72 triumph over the dethroned Golden Stallions.

Gallego knocked in 21 markers while Yu, saddled with three fouls in the first quarter, was limited to five, all in the first half.

Tio topped Xavier School with 24 points.

The rest is history. Tio made it to Ateneo De Manila in the UAAP and later in the PBA, Yu went to UE, Thailand and returned to Manila to snare three NCAA titles with Colegio de San Juan de Letran and is now active PBA player like Tio.

Tibayan was recently drafted in the PBA.

Gallego, meanwhile, attended college at National University and San Beda College, where he won an NCAA hardware. He suited up in the MPBL as well.

Dysangco is now with the UST coaching staff.

The 2012 Tiong Lian season was memorable for CKSC for the school registered an unprecedented Grand Slam, sweeping the championships in the 14-Under Aspirants, Boys Juniors and Girls High School divisions.

See you in September!

The best is yet to come!

The road to greatness starts here. 🏀 Season 45 is set to bring together the next generation of under-15 talent, where every game is another step toward growth, teamwork, and bigger opportunities.

Follow MMTLBA and catch the action on Solar Sports Digital and Nudge Sports. See you on the road to greatness! 🔥

📍 Tag your school, teammates, and basketball family!

Happy birthday to Ma'am Yolanda "Yhollie" Co, a 5-8 center from CKSC who was a member of the 1982 PH women's team to the Asian Youth Basketball Championship held in Manila.

She wore No. 8 because of another Co - Gloria - that made waves a decade earlier in the WNCAA, also out of CKSC.