Maymay Canuto marked her return to San Juan-DN Steel in emphatic fashion, delivering a career-best performance that propelled her team to solo first place in the 2025 Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.
After missing the Lady Knights’ last four outings due to her commitments with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Canuto wasted no time making an impact in her comeback, leading San Juan to a 72-60 payback victory over Pangasinan-Solar Home on Sunday at the Montano Hall in Cavite City.
“Yun nga, ‘di ako nakalaro nung first round dahil may duty ako sa AFP. Na-deploy ako sa malayo, so bawal kami lumabas kaya hindi ako nakalaro. Na-miss ko ‘yung four or five games,” said the former National University standout.
The 5-foot-3 guard powered San Juan-DN Steel with a career-high 21 points on an efficient 8-of-12 shooting, while also contributing seven rebounds and three assists.
Her all-around effort lifted the Lady Knights to their third straight win, improving their record to 6-2 and pushing them to the top of the standings — at least for now.
Canuto revealed that her biggest motivation for her return was San Juan’s stinging 83-86 overtime loss to the Suns in the first round, a game she was forced to miss.
“Gaya ng sabi ko kanina, extra motivation sa’kin na natalo nila kami nung first round, which is wala ako nun,” shared the 25-year-old guard from Davao.
“So ‘yun ‘yung naging extra motivation ko na kailangan may ma-ambag ako, kailangan may ma-contribute ako. Hindi ‘man sa offense, kahit sa depensa makapag-contribute ako.”
Lady Knights head coach Ai Lebornio was all praises for Canuto’s immediate impact, noting her consistent growth and reliability.
“Yun naman ang ine-expect namin palagi kay Maymay. Sinasabi ko naman lagi sa kanya na every game, alam ko kung anong ibibigay niya sa’kin, so I’m happy kasi every game may improvement si Maymay,” said Lebornio.
