By: Jerod Orcullo
Bouncing back from a nightmare season, La Salle Green Hills secured its spot in the NCAA Season 100 Juniors’ Basketball Final Four with an 81-70 victory over Emilio Aguinaldo College last Monday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
With their sights set on another title run, the Greenies now face a daunting challenge against defending champions Colegio de San Juan de Letran. However, they will have to do so without their leading scorer, Guillan Quines, and head coach Renren Ritualo, both of whom were ejected in the game against the Brigadiers.
Although LSGH has filed an appeal, the best-case scenario for the Ortigas-based squad is to push the Squires to a win-or-go-home match.
La Salle will now look to its co-captains and seniors, James Ison and Gian Gomez, to lead the team in this critical stretch.
After their hard-fought win over EAC, Gomez credited the assistant coaches for stepping up in Ritualo’s absence.
“All the credits po goes to the coaches dahil sa mga assistant coach namin, nag-step up po sila nung nawala si Coach Ren. ‘Di po kami na-rattle dahil they composed us, and tinulungan po talaga kami na i-baon na po yung laro at ‘di na maka-recover yung EAC,” the 5-foot-6 floor general stated.
The 18-year-old guard from Guiguinto, Bulacan, took a moment to reflect on his newfound role with the Greenies after spending Seasons 98 and 99 on the bench.
“Throughout the season, super saya ko talaga dahil I wasn’t expecting this. Before the season, I wasn’t playing that much—like I was just on the bench. But now, I was able to play and ‘di ko talaga sinayang yung opportunity na binigay sa akin. Pinakita ko sa mga coaches na I can play also with my teammates,” Gomez explained.
Through the elimination phase, Gomez has been LSGH’s second-leading scorer, averaging 11.33 points, 3.56 steals, 3.33 rebounds, and 1.56 assists per game.
When asked about the source of his confidence, he credited his experience playing alongside Gilas standouts Luis Pablo, Seven Gagate, and Joshua Coronel back in Season 98.
“Siguro po, even though I’m young, it comes with the maturity kasi I played with sila Pablo, Gagate, Coronel, and those guys are Gilas prospects. Sa practice ng NC games, tinitignan ko lang kung ano yung ginagawa nila sa big stage, so dun ko nakuha yung kumpyansa ko to play at this level at a big stage,” he shared.
Despite securing a Final Four berth, Gomez admitted that team chemistry remains a key area for improvement if they want to finally capture the elusive championship.
“Siguro po, chemistry. Kasi noong Season 98, we were very stacked — ayun nga, puro Gilas players — and that’s why we relied on our talent. All of our plays were designed for our big players, kasi sila talaga babanat sa game,” said Gomez, a member of the Gilas Boys’ pool.
“Ngayon, meron kaming Quines, and kami supporting cast kami with Quines. So yun, kailangan pa namin magkaroon ng mas grabeng chemistry dahil hindi magiging madali yung task namin. Kailangan namin magtulong-tulong para makuha yung championship.”
