Running in playoff gear, Altas stun Cardinals for perfect season start
Olsen Racela expected Perpetual Help to be competitive in the NCAA Season 101 men’s basketball tournament. It didn’t matter that he missed out on keeping the best player of the Altas’ powerhouse high school program—six players did stick around to join the seniors squad.
“And that was huge for us,” the legendary PBA playmaker and now Perpetual coach said, “because we had a continuity to build on.”
But being hopeful and expecting success is far different from watching that hope translate into actual success.
The Altas are 3-0 (win-loss) after Wednesday’s stunning 76-65 victory over Mapua—and while it is a welcome surprise, Racela hopes nobody misses the point.
“It’s not the 3-0 that’s big; we’re just a week into the season and there’s a long way to go,” Racela said in a late afternoon chat with the Inquirer. “It’s the fact that we beat a program as noted and accomplished as Mapua.”
“For a team like us, who nobody else outside of us expected to be competitive, that is huge—especially for our confidence.
St. Benilde capped a day of surprises at Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan, hammering out a 95-80 victory over Letran to send the Knights—who, in contrast to the Altas, everyone expected to figure strongly this season—to a third straight defeat in as many games.
No luxury
Racela made sure Perpetual didn’t just win; the Altas dictated the game. JP Boral scored 15 points on an efficient 5-of-10 clip, while LA Casinillo and Patrick Sleat combined for 25 points and nine assists. Mark Gojo Cruz chipped in 12.
The Altas shot 42.4% from the field and outscored Mapua’s starters 40-26. More tellingly, they forced 18 turnovers and scored 18 fastbreak points—punishing Mapua for every lapse.
And Racela credited that relentlessness to the team’s approach to the season.
“Unlike the more established programs, we don’t have the luxury of staying in elimination-round mode and then just kick things up in the playoffs,” the San Miguel Beer legend said.
“Every game for us is a playoff game.”
It’s a mindset that makes the Altas vulnerable to mental exhaustion, but Racela isn’t worried about that.
“Us coaches will handle that and make sure they recover, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally, after every game,” he said. “But these kids are young and they haven’t been to a Final Four in a long while. So they’ll always be excited and prepared every game.”
The Altas lost high school star and junior MVP Lebron Jhames Daep to La Salle but managed to keep most of the core of its high school program and maintain a homegrown vibe in the senior squad.
