Reeling from a narrow Game 2 loss last Sunday, the Perpetual Junior ALTAs knew they had a big problem to solve: Benilde-La Salle Green Hills' scorer Guillian Quines.
The explosive Greenies standout torched them for a career-high 35 points in that game, alongside 11 rebounds, four assists, and five steals to lead his team to a 95-91 win and force a decisive Game 3.
Perpetual knew they couldn’t let Quines repeat that kind of performance in the winner-take-all finale. Enter rookie Jim Corpuz, who emerged as the unlikely answer to the Junior ALTAs’ defensive dilemma.
Corpuz revealed that he volunteered to take on the daunting task of guarding Quines, using the one-day break to study his every move. Quines entered the finals clash averaging 25.58 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.17 assists, and 3.67 steals per game.
“Doon sa Game 2 kasi naka-35 points siya kaya mas lalo kaming na-motivate na gusto talaga namin siyang i-stop. Nasa isip ko nu’ng gabi pagkatapos ng game na kailangan hindi na siya makaulit sa Game 3 na ganyang kataas ang score," Corpuz told GMA News Online.
"Kung mababaan namin ng kahit sampu ‘yung score niya, mananalo kami."
[In Game 2, he scored 35 points so we were more motivated in wanting to stop him. It was on my mind that night after the game, we can't let him do that again and get that high of a score in Game 3... If we could just lower that by 10 points, we would win.]
And Corpuz delivered on his promise, putting on a defensive clinic that helped the Junior ALTAs flip the script and claim the school's first-ever championship in either the juniors or seniors ranks.
Gaining just his fourth start this season, the 18-year-old baller started off strong by limiting Quines to just two points in the first quarter, where the latter made just two attempts from the floor.
Even better, Corpuz also drilled a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc as the Junior ALTAs set the tone early on. The offense has always been there for Corpuz, but he said it was the defense that spelled the difference in the game.
"Inaral ko talaga lahat ng galaw niya sa mga previous games nila. Sa YouTube tinignan ko kung ano ‘yung mga weaknesses niya at inaral ko talaga. Sabi ko ‘di na dapat ‘to makaulit."
[I studied all of his moves from their previous games. On YouTube, I looked for his weaknesses and I really studied them. I said, he can't do that again.]
Quines still finished with 18 points in the game on 6-for-12 shooting from the field.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
