UST Growling Tigresses coach Haydee Ong. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.web
MANILA, Philippines — When Haydee Ong took over as College of Santo Tomas ladies’s basketball coach in 2016, the Growling Tigresses misplaced their video games in lopsided style to the mighty Nationwide College Woman Bulldogs.
They couldn’t even get previous NU’s full-court press throughout these years.
However the blowout losses didn’t cease Ong from creating the UST ladies’s basketball program till the celebs lastly aligned and the Growling Tigresses ended the seven-year dynasty of NU and the varsity’s 17-year basketball title drought within the UAAP Season 86,
“I’m telling you hindi ako makatawid ng bola sa NU, ang lamang nila parati sa akin, 70 or 80 okay? However I by no means gave up. Sabi ko, I’ll begin this system for UST and this can be a lengthy journey. We’re three to 4 years behind, sinabi ko sa mga pari and it’s important to belief this system, the system,” stated Ong after their dramatic 71-69 win.
The Tigresses displayed their never-say-die spirit in Recreation 3 as they by no means wavered even trailing by 15 late within the third. Graduating Tantoy Ferrer scored 9 straight factors down the stretch earlier than Kent Pastrana eluded her defenders to tie the sport at 69 with 26 seconds left.
UST’s Tanto Ferrer raises her Finals MVP trophy after main the Growling Tigresses to their first UAAP ladies’s basketball title since 2006.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.web
Nikki Villasin delivered the championship-clinching layup with 11.8 seconds left to place UST on prime of girls’s basketball with 12 crowns.
Ong attributed their success to what they name “BTS,” which meant Perception in one another, Belief in this system, and Give up every part to God.
“In case you consider in one another, belief in one another, belief within the coaches, belief within the system and this system, and give up every part, you’ll have a fantastic final result,” stated the UST coach.
“And eventually, the lengthy wait is over. Ang sarap ng feeling, particularly as a coach,” she added.
The Tigresses stopped an 11-year-long 20-game dropping streak to the Woman Bulldogs in Recreation 1 earlier than falling brief in Recreation 2, which allowed NU to pressure a decider.
UST additionally grew to become the latest ladies’s champion in 10 years since NU’s dynasty began in 2014 below Gilas Ladies coach Pat Aquino, who was changed by Aris Dimaunahan final yr.
“Isa palang naman kami. Sila seven na. I feel, ang naprove ko is lahat ng groups ngayon arevery aggressive due to NU. They raised the bar. Lahat is gaining up para umikli or lumiit yung hole in opposition to NU, and that’s why sabi ko sa ladies, it’s an extended journey, an extended wait. Nagtiis kami and eventually we’re champions,” stated Ong.
Greater than their Season 86 success, Ong is honored that the Tigresses’ emergence as the brand new queens can be a testomony that girls’s basketball is reaching new heights.
“That’s what I’m right here for. Kaya hindi pa ako nagreretire. I actually wished ladies’s basketball to be as widespread as the ladies’s volleyball, males’s basketball. However unti-unti, they noticed how good basketball ladies gamers are enjoying proper now. And in reality, maraming mga lalaki nanonood din as a result of they’re impressed with what ladies’s basketball is succesful,” stated Ong, who gained championships from 1987 to 1990 as a UST participant.
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“Grabe for the primary time, kahit nung naglalaro ako sa UST, hindi yata nagyellow day. The group is great. They don’t simply help solely the boys’s basketball or the volleyball groups, now that they know that girls’s basketball is price watching, and thrilling as the boys’s basketball. Thanks talaga, sa UST group,” she added.