It all felt familiar for Mark Gojo Cruz: another playoff series loss to a Colegio de San Juan de Letran team.
The sophomore guard admitted that Perpetual’s NCAA Season 101 Final Four loss to Letran stung deeply for him and the rest of the ALTAs, especially since they wanted to give their senior players a finals run before bidding the school goodbye.
But the rising star isn’t dwelling on what could have been; he’s now focused on what’s still possible.
"Going to this game, sabi ko lang ibibigay ko lahat ng best ko na kasi ‘yung first game, wala na akong na-shoot nu’ng second half. Sabi ko, win or lose, basta wala akong regrets kaya ngayon, bawi na lang talaga next season," a still emotional Gojo Cruz told reporters on Friday.
"Nati-trigger ako personally kasi hindi ko nabigyan ng finals na exit ‘yung mga seniors ko. And ako kasi, personally ang goal ko ay makapag-champion na kahit sophomore pa lang ako."
(Going to this game, I just said I would give my best because in the first game, I was not able make a shot in the second half. I said, win or lose, I just don’t want any regrets. So now, I was to bounce back next season…. I’m triggered personally because I wasn’t able to give my seniors a finals exit. And me personally, my goal is to become champion even if I was just a sophomore.)
The defeat echoed like a ghost from the past for Gojo Cruz.
In his first and only year with the Perpetual Junior ALTAs during the Season 99 juniors basketball tournament, Gojo Cruz proved to be a key cog in the team’s dominant run—right up until they fell to the Letran Squires in Game 3 of the finals.
That Letran team also featured star point guard Titing Manalili with head coach Allen Ricardo calling the shots.
More than a year later, Gojo Cruz met that very same tandem, this time in a seniors basketball playoff series. However, he still couldn’t flip the script as the ALTAs blew an early lead and fell to the Knights in Game 2 of their best-of-three semifinals to end their title aspirations.
Still, Gojo Cruz is mighty proud that they were able to prove doubters wrong.
"Siguro it shows na kasi sa start naman ng season wala namang nag-expect na nasa Final Four kami. Proud ako sa run namin, sa team ko and pinrove lang din namin na mali sila," he added.
"Nira-rank ata kami sa prediction na 6th or 8th and ayun, proud lang din ako kasi kita ko rin naman ‘yung effort nila."
(I guess it shows because at the start of the season, no one expected us to make the Final Four. I’m proud of our run, of my team and we proved the doubters wrong... They were ranking us 6th or 8th in the predictions. I'm proud because I saw the effort of the team.)
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
