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VON HARRY LANETE – ON HIS OWN
by: Patricia Bermudez-Hizon (February 13, 2010)

It must’ve been a riot growing up in a family of 4 boys who were just as crazy over basketball as their father who played college hoops in the south. Ascof Lagundi’s newly recruited point guard Von Harry Lanete shares that it was chaotic to have that much testosterone enclosed within four walls but luckily his mother was always around to calm the turbulence.

This depicts how the Lanete household was in the quiet town of Isabela, Basilan. Well, Basilan was quiet if you compared it to how frenetic the competition was between the Lanete boys on the basketball court across the street before their 6pm curfew.

When the backboard broke, their father put together an improvised basketball court in their garden but their mom wouldn’t have any rough-housing by her planters. And when they decided to move their little court to the living room, mommy Carol who teaches elementary and high school in Claret, put her iron fist down. Soon enough though, her appreciation for the game became as substantial as her boys’.

There’s Chico who’s 31 now, then came Al who’s 4 years younger, followed by Von Harry or Bonbon who’s 24, and the youngest is Garvo who’s 21 and plays for the San Beda Red Lions. Of the four, Al is the only one who didn’t pursue basketball and focused on his computer engineering course in college in Cebu after he starred in his high school squad.

The doting father taught the boys everything he knew about basketball, but the most important thing they learned from him is love for the game.

Chico, who is currently signed up with the Coca Cola Tigers in the PBA, led the pack and was the first one to follow in the footsteps of their dad Boy Lanete, a Southern City Colleges of Zamboanga standout during his time. Chico was also the first one to leave home, going from Zamboanga to Manila to pursue his academics and basketball at the Lyceum of the Philippines. That kind ofindependence inspired Von Harry as well to venture off on his own.

In 2008, he graduated from the University of the Visayas where he didn’t just earn a Business Management degree, but a spot in the amateurs. He’s slowly establishing his own budding career which started with the vaunted Harbor Center Batang Pier. Although relegated to the reserves, he was able to get trained one of the best and with some of the best in the PBL. That kind of experience did him some good.

And yes it was a plus that he had his brother Chico giving him the lowdown on how things are in the pro league. The life coaching, the advice on attitude and work ethic are some of the instrumental lessons Von Harry got from his big brother. Eventually, the Pascual Laboratories franchise saw not just his promise, but also his good attitude. So they signed him.

One tournament that the former Pharex squad joined last year was a 6-country tourney in Malaysia where he had a great showing. He knows though that defense is still one thing he needs to work on.

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