Whether you’re in the La Salle or Ateneo side, any win over the archrival in the UAAP is always special.
For coach Cholo Villanueva, who represented the Taft school during one of the most heated periods of the rivalry, the Lady Archers’ 75-67 victory over the Blue Eagles today resonated much more than usual.
“Of course, it’s a very good win for us,” said the former PBA cager. “It’s a very emotional win because first we don’t want to lose to the other school.
“For me personally, it’s an emotional win for me because my mother-in-law who died early this year, it’s her birthday today. So I offer this win to her. She’s been like my second mom.”
Entering the game, La Salle suffered a bad loss at the hands of University of Santo Tomas. The Lady Archers are yet to truly impose themselves this season and build a winning streak.
The Taft school needed to bounce back in a big way and they just did that with a win over their archrivals.
“For us, it’s just about pride. Again, we can lose to any team but we don’t want to lose to Ateneo,” said the 6-foot-1 CSA Makati alumnus. “Maybe because I was from an era na that was the thing. Ngayon, medyo friends na sila. So for us, it’s really the competition and the pride of not losing to our rival school.
“For the girls, it was just about wanting it more than the other team.”
While on the sidelines, Villanueva witnessed Lee Sario take charge right when it mattered the most.
Sario scored 19 points in the contest – 11 of which were produced in the fourth quarter – and she also produced 11 rebounds as well as three assists.
Her contributions went a long way in helping the Lady Archers finally pull away from the Blue Eagles.
“Personally, I just took care of the ball. I just did what coach Cholo wants me to do. I didn’t do anything that was out of my game,” said Sario. “I also made the right decisions and also the performance in the fourth quarter, it wasn’t just by myself.
“It was a team effort. It was the passes and the good rebounds of our big guys. I just did my role, which is to score every time I get the ball.”
Another player who shone for La Salle during the game was foreign student-athlete Fina Niantcho Tchuido.
The rookie center had 13 points and 10 rebounds in her first rivalry game and Villanueva was pleased with his neophyte’s contributions.
“For Fina, she was great today. She was able to stay in the game, control her fouls, make good decisions on the defensive end, and then, like Lee said, play her role,” said the two-time UAAP gold medalist.
“If everybody in this team just plays their role to what we want in our system, we would have easy wins or games that we’re supposed to be winning if we just do our roles and our jobs within the system.”
The last time La Salle made the Final Four, it was during its finals run against National University back in 2016. That era was led by the likes of Snow Penaranda, Camille Claro, and Khate Castillo.
The Lady Archers failed to make the postseason for three straight seasons and Villanueva hopes it will be different this time round.
“For us, it’s still a long way to go. We can’t do any predictions as of now. We’re just looking at whoever’s in front of us. This Ateneo game, we competed, we played with pride, and we won,” said the current Bay Area Dragons assistant.
“We’re just looking at this moment, looking at this game, and then we’ll look at the film, review it, (see) whatever we can do to improve, and then we’ll prepare for UE in our next game.”
