DREAM AIN’T OVER
Jacob Cortez has never stopped talking about his basketball dream.
People will now listen to him more intently.
Cortez, who said winning a championship for La Salle is something he wants to accomplish as a varsity standout, showed he wasn’t joking when he took charge in the most crucial moments of a 78-73 victory over National University on Saturday in their do-or-die Final Four showdown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Not even the status of the No. 1 Bulldogs as favorites and their twice-to-beat shield were enough to hold off Cortez and the No. 4 Archers.
“This means a lot to me. I’ve said in a lot of interviews that this is my dream. I want to play for La Salle. I’ve been watching them since I was a kid and I watched them when they won championships,” he said, referring to the old days when his father, Mike, would bring him to the La Salle sidelines when he was a kid.
“Now, I’m in that spot where I’m in the Finals with them. Like I said before, I’m not going to win alone. I have a hundred percent trust with my guys that we’ll do anything to win and really, all you need is trust.”
Cortez finished with 29 points, four rebounds and four assists to help punch La Salle’s ticket to the UAAP Finals for the third straight year.
Jacob’s father, the ever-so-famous Green Archer legend and former PBA notable Mike Cortez, won two titles for La Salle in 2000 and 2001.
The former San Beda standout wasn’t born when Mike won those two chips for the Taft-based squad. But he did get to watch other La Salle celebrations.
Now, though, he can replicate what his father has done for La Salle before. Already, Jacob is showing off moves that his father used to do for the Green Archers in the early 2000s.
Down the stretch, the Bulldogs held a slim two-point cushion over La Salle, 71-69, when Cortez took charge for the Archers.
With their shot clock close to expiring, Cortez almost lost the ball in the corner but recovered it just in time for a buzzer-beating corner triple that put La Salle up, 72-71, with 1:42 to go.
As if that wasn’t enough, Cortez sank another bucket at the 56.3 mark of crunch time after NU’s PJ Palacielo split his freebies to put the Archers in the driver’s seat, 74-72.
Earl Abadam and Vhoris Marasigan finished with 14 and 10 points, respectively, to backstop Cortez in the La Salle win. Mike Phillips only scored eight, but still managed to snag 10 rebounds.
‘Happy to be here’
Graduating forward Jake Figueroa did everything he could to push NU to the finish line, ending up with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists, but to no avail. Jolo Manansala and Palacielo also did their share with 13 points each in a losing effort.
Up next for La Salle is a third straight Finals date against UP in a best-of-three series.
That officially starts on Wednesday, and even coach Topex Robinson doesn’t know how to approach his third straight chess game against UP coach Goldwin Monteverde.
“I really don’t know what’s going to happen this time, but one thing is for sure, we’re happy to be here,” Robinson said.
“We’re capable. As long as we stick together and as long as we keep on thinking about staying together,” he added.
