Sometimes, it only takes one player to turn a playoff-worthy team into a potential title contender.
The past few seasons have seen the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws, who have won 11 UAAP Women’s Basketball titles, fall behind the defending champions National University Bulldogs and fail to reach the Final Four in Seasons 78 and 79.
Last season, though, was a sign that the proud program was slowly getting back to its feet. Bert Flores successfully steered the team back to the Final Four where it folded against eventual champions NU but that fact it returned to that stage meant the season was deemed as a success.
With a team which had reliable guards in Valerie Mamaril and Fatima Quiapo, all it needed was a strong center who would control the paint.
Enter Clare Castro.
The Cavite-native returned to UAAP action after a two-year absence due to personal and academic issues and has shown how much of a difference-maker she is. Castro has averaged 14.0 points and 13.6 rebounds per outing so far and she is a big factor as to why the Lady Tamaraws sit second in the standings with four wins and one loss.
“Binibigay ko talaga yung best ko kasi alam ko na talaga malaki yung maitutulong ako once mag-focus ako. Talagang nag-focus ako sa goal ko na kailangan ko makatulong sa team,” explained the Perlas Pilipinas standout.
Castro, who Flores playfully refers to as June Mar Fajardo in his post-game interviews, shared how proud she was to represent the Lady Tamaraws in the UAAP. She has shown no signs of rust ever since she returned to action against the University of the East Lady Warriors last September 9, 2018.
The St. Francis Academy alumna recounted, “Kasi dati nung past seasons, nakiki-training naman ako sa kanila.
“Tapos nung pagkabalik ko, okay lang naman kasi hindi ako nangangapa. Komportable naman ako sa kanila kaya okay lang yung training at sa laro.”
The 21-year-old is the tallest Filipina cager in the UAAP Women’s Division. At 6-foot-4, she is slightly taller than NU’s Jack Animam whose recorded height is 6-foot-2. While Castro will be predominantly used at the paint, she’s capable of scoring from the perimeter as shown when she sunk a three against the De La Salle University Lady Archers at 8:27 mark of the fourth quarter.
The main mission of Castro, though, is to stop the likes of Animam and foreign student-athletes Rhena Itesi and Grace Irebu who have provided steel for the likes of NU and University of Santo Tomas respectively.
The Lady Tamaraws’ co-captain admitted, “Siyempre nakaka-pressure kasi kailangan ko talagang ibigay yung pinaka-best ko kasi parang sabi nila coach na kaya ko yan.
“Alam ko naman na kaya ko pero minsan naman kase parang nakaka-pressure na kailangan talaga mag match-up.”
While Castro stated how thankful she was for her teammates, coaches and her team’s current standing in Season 81, she knew that there was still a long way to go before all of them arrived at where they want to be this year.
“Para sa akin, one game at a time. Final Four muna yung goal. Pag nakapasok kami ng Final Four, saka ko iisipin ang finals. Pero pinaka (goal) namin is gusto namin mag-Finals talaga.”
