TEAM SANTOS- ROBERTO LITTAUA DIVISION
by Lester Estrada
Team Santos hit rock-bottom on February 11. It sat on a disappointing 1-3 record, aggravated by
consecutive back-breaking losses to Team Vigo and Team Juan. After waiting for a decade to win a
championship, this seemed like the latest iteration of bad luck.
The basketball gods have pussy-footed with the team’s championship aspirations. Twice over, the boys
entered as confident top seeds only to bow down to hot-shooting underdogs. In another one season,
the finals fell on an early Sunday morning – which meant hangover hell for its younger players. This
season, Team Santos thought it lost one of its leading scorers to a nasty concussion which triggered its
slowest start in a decade. It sure felt like another year of maybe next year.
Fast forward to March 18: Team Santos clawed its way back into contention and set-up a rematch vs.
Team Vigo in the semis. The team was staring at an 8-point deficit at the end of the first. In their last
encounter, Team Vigo murdered Santos on the boards en route to a 22-point win. The first few minutes
of the rematch proved no different. Led by Chip Locsin (who also led team prayers and motivational
speeches), Team Santos responded with its own brand of ugly. The first half ended even, but with a
momentum shifting buzzer-beater from Dax Garcia. The second half saw Santos build a lead that swayed
from 5 to 10 points behind some toilet clogging defense. Lester Estrada and Rafa Garcia took turns
manning the fort against a rampaging frontcourt. The game became purposefully physical on the
defensive end, but it was Miguel Abellada (14p, 9r and 6ast) and the fully recovered Fonzy Estrada (20p
and 13r) who fueled the offense with dizzying fast-breaks and pin-point passing when the game slowed.
The dust settled with a 62-53 score for Santos, but the numbers behind the numbers were more telling.
Vigo won the rebounding battle 55-39, with no definitive advantages on steals, assists and three points
made (neither team converted a 3!). The single-biggest stat line that turned the tide was on FG%: Santos
converted 42% while Vigo got suffocated at 29%. The lowly four-seed just punched a ticket to the finals.
The final game was a rematch vs. Team Juan - the other team that beat Santos by 20 points. While this
game was closer than the semis, Team Santos was able to dictate the pace throughout with an
aggressive perimeter defense that keyed in on the leading scorer. Mikko Santos and Julo de Guzman set
the tone as the power guards up top, and funneled the defense towards Joey Uy who flew in all the way
from Zamboanga. The team got steady ball-handling from Vinci Mercado, Miggy Villanueva and the
come-backing Gabby Roxas, and received much needed scoring spurts from JL Gavino (lay-up off the
bounce) and Sting Teopaco (floater). And while much of the scoring came from the team’s mythical
awardees (Miguel Abellada and Fonzy Estrada), the team was buoyed by its namesake - Patrick Santos
(15p, 7r and 5stl) who played critical two-way basketball in the clutch.
When the final buzzer sounded, the scoreboard read 60-47 for Team Santos. It delivered another upset
win that completed a 5-game winning streak, the last two victories improbably coming from the top
teams. Team Santos’ defense delivered yet again as it forced a 26% FG clip from its opponents (a team
that shot 47% in the semis). The end proved both surreal and euphoric – feelings usually associated with
victories that came 10 years too late.
For a feat that took a full decade to complete, this was the most perfect path possible to win it all.