Even in defeat, first-year head coach Gian Nazario found a reason to smile.
After De La Salle Zobel bowed out in the Final Four of the UAAP Season 88 High School Boys’ Basketball Tournament with a 70-75 loss to National University Nazareth School, Nazario took pride in one of the brightest stories of the team’s campaign — the emergence of graduating guard Maco Dabao.
For the deputy of Topex Robinson with the Green Archers, Dabao’s transformation from a backup scorer into the team’s leader and heart has embodied the Junior Archers’ stunning turnaround in Season 88.
“In our preseason, Maco messaged me. He said, Coach, I can’t do it alone. So I was telling Maco, who said that you’re gonna do it alone? I told him, kasi natatalo kami yung preseason. So I was just telling him, we have each other, we have our other teammates,” Nazario said last Sunday, March 15, at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.
“We had our fights. We had our long text messages to each other. But, you know, just for Maco, as they would say, the sky is the limit for him.”
After spending the past three years largely as a backup, Dabao stepped into a much bigger role in Season 88. He has carried the scoring and leadership load for a DLSZ squad that had to navigate the departures of Season 87 MVP Kieffer Alas, who transferred to the United States, and Bonn Daja, who suffered a season-ending injury.
Despite those setbacks, the 5-foot-11 guard from Parañaque guided the Junior Archers back into contention. He joined team captain Ken Atienza in bringing the program to the Final Four for the first time in over nine years, since Season 79 (2016).
In Season 88, Dabao earned a spot in the division’s Elite Team, averaging 17.29 points, 5.93 rebounds, 2.21 assists, and 2.5 steals, leading DLSZ to a fourth-place, 8-6 finish in the eliminations.
Beyond the numbers and individual accolades, what stood out most for Nazario was Dabao’s maturity and growth amid the challenges that confronted the Junior Archers.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
“To transition into the main option for the team is not an easy responsibility. I am not really worried about him because of his work ethic and attitude,” Nazario explained.
“The fact that he was able to get this team all together, him and Ken [Atienza], is such a joy to see. When we’re in practices, I can’t be any prouder of them, especially Maco,” he added.
More than personal achievements, Dabao said that the Junior Archers’ breakout season in his final year was something he shared with the entire program, from representing DLSZ since grade school to rising to the occasion in his senior year under Nazario’s mentorship.
Though the Junior Archers fell short of their ultimate goal, Dabao remained grateful for the journey, noting that the adversity the team faced — particularly after losing Alas and Daja — shaped the character of the squad for years to come.
“I just wanna thank God, my family, Coach G, my teammates, for believing in me. And Coach G’s right on, just can’t process about all the ups and downs we had through the season. But at the end, we still kept… We stuck together no matter what happened. Not the result we wanted, but it’s just God’s plan or God’s way. There’s nothing you can stop from God’s plan,” the 5-foot-11 guard shared.
“We just kept learning every game. We kept growing as a team. We stayed together no matter what happened. As with coach Gian’s philosophy, you just learn every game. And we’ll take this loss as a learning experience for our future.”
