As the NCAA Season 101 semifinals loom, Letran coach Allen Ricardo is already plotting how to contain Perpetual Help’s top scorers.
‘Of course, we have to know what they’re doing and we have to know their personnel and who they’ll go to at the end of the day,’ Ricardo said after Letran’s 77-69 win over Arellano in the quarters at San Juan Arena on Friday.
‘They have Patrick Sleat and (Mark) Gojo Cruz, who are the heart and soul of that team. We need to limit those two to have a good chance of closing the game and winning the series.’
Ricardo barely cracked a smile even after successfully discarding the Chiefs, who had a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
Instead, the up-and-coming tactician chose to look ahead for their series against the Altas, who finished the classification games as the best team of Group A.
Much like Ricardo said, Sleat and Gojo Cruz have been the driving force for Perpetual this season. In the Altas’ 81-74 win over Jose Rizal University in the quarterfinals, Gojo Cruz scored 23 while Sleat recorded a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Fortunately for Ricardo, he has some weapons to match Perpetual’s firepower as showcased in the Knights’ recent win.
Jimboy Estrada exploded with 19 points built on three triples. Kevin Santos finished just two rebounds shy of a double-double with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Jonathan Manalili struggled, finishing with just three points but he still managed to dish out 12 assists.
Matchups aside, Ricardo knows they will have to pull out all the stops against the Altas as they go on a race for two wins to get to the Finals.
‘We’re here in the semifinals so we have to do what it takes to move on to the championship. We’ll take it one game at a time and we’ll study Perpetual. We’ll try to limit their scoring abilities so we can have a chance to stick with them.’
Letran and Perpetual clash on Tuesday at Araneta Coliseum to officially begin the Season 88 semifinals.