Lancers savor latest conquest
CEBU Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) 2016 basketball champions University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers are savoring the sweetness of their 11th collegiate title as the basketball season officially ended with their Game 4 win over defending champions University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors Saturday night.
“Like what I have already said, it’s always sweeter every time because it takes so much effort to be champions. All work has to be done, all the sacrifices and everything in between,” UV team manager Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas told Sun.Star Cebu.
His counterpart, USC’s financial backer and former Bogo City Mayor Celestino “Junie” Martinez Jr., was both disappointed and elated with the performance of the Warriors this season.
Though he said he was disappointed that the team failed to meet the expectations in Game 4, Martinez said he was happy for the overachieving Warriors, who were not even considered to make it the finals.
“Actually, (I am) both disappointed and happy with the achievements of the boys. Disappointed, in the sense that they fell short of our expectations in Game 4. Me and Fr. Andring (Ocariza, the athletic director of USC) felt that they could have given up more efforts last night (Saturday evening). Anyway, the boys are overachieving already, nobody gave us a second look at the start of the season. Imagine we lost our first game and we finished the elimination round at fourth place. So being in the finals is already an achievement for us,” Martinez said.
Both men were aware of the controversies that surrounded the finals, but they disagreed that USC is a weak team owing to its fourth-place finish and elimination round record of 6-6.
“Overall it was a very successful season. While some criticisms were thrown their way, Cesafi officials did a great job organizing the league, overall. The commissioner should be commended for his emphasis on following rules, especially with disorderly behaviors during the Cesafi (season) and Cesafi sanctioned (preseason) events. With that said, there is still more room for this league to grow. UV will continue to support the present initiatives of the league while we will also suggest some changes as well,” said Gullas.
“For our part, while we benefited from the tournament format, it is not also right to tag us as weak team. We have proven that by giving SWU a tough time before losing in the semifinal round and we beat USJ-R, a team that defeated us twice in the elimination round and twice against UV. If you just give us a second look, we are a good team, a championship-caliber team. That is why we were at the championship and not another team,” Martinez said.
Martinez promised that the Warriors will be coming back stronger next season.
“There are already some recruits who joined us during the season and hopefully they would be eligible for next year. And Shooster Olago wants to go back with us. Hopefully, we can sort out his (academic) problems. For sure we will bounce back stronger,” Martinez continued.
Among those who are now with the Warriors camp are Cebuano Kurt Trangia, a former member of the Centro Escolar University Jr. Scorpions and another Cebuano point guard who was part of a UAAP school last year but was not included in the line-up this year.
There is also an ongoing negotiations for two big men who used to play for a Cebu-based school to play for the Warriors next year.