Bea De Leon’s best performance in a Creamline uniform ended on a somber note on Sunday night after the Cool Smashers fell to Petro Gazz in a thrilling five-set affair at the Santa Rosa Sports Complex.
De Leon was the second-leading scorer for the Cool Smashers with 13 points on seven attacks and six blocks, but it was not enough to help the defending champions overcome a Brooke Van Sickle-led Petro Gazz side.
Despite her impressive outing, the 5-foot-11 middle blocker from Ateneo was not in a celebratory mood after the match, stating that she preferred to secure the win instead.
“Oh, I didn’t know (that it was my first time to score in double-digits for Creamline). Sana nanalo na lang kami,” said De Leon, who was only averaging 4.0 points in five games played prior to the 15-25, 25-18, 24-26, 25-19, 15-13 loss to the Angels.
“I think naman we gave it everything that we could. Talagang naunahan talaga kami ng Petro Gazz. They played very well and hindi namin sila napigilan especially towards the back end. Pero ‘yun, talo kami. A loss is a loss,” she added.
Creamline was the first to put one across the board after a Tots Carlos cross-court hit, but Van Sickle went on a tear, unloading four points in Petro Gazz’s 8-3 start to put the Cool Smashers away early in the decider.
The Rebisco-backed squad managed to cut it down to two after De Leon, Jema Galanza, Kyle Negrito, and Carlos connived in a 6-2 run to help Creamline move closer, 9-10, but it was not enough as Petro Gazz put on the finishing touches to deal the Cool Smashers their second loss this conference.
De Leon said that the team will address their slow start as they look to bounce back in their upcoming match against Nxled on Saturday, 6:00 p.m. at the Philsports Arena.
“Siguro na-mention nga nila coach kanina is slow starts. Talagang mahirap, hindi talaga laging makakahabol kaagad kapag ganun kalaki rin ‘yung deficit and ganun ka-crucial,” said the former Choco Mucho skipper.
“So ‘yun, siguro that’s one, but for now parang everything’s still a blur so we’re still gonna try and go back talaga to the drawing table.”
