BY Gwen Bergado
AT just 17 years old, Kieffer Alas has already been showing that he's at the top of the deck.
Whether with Gilas Pilipinas Youth or De La Salle Zobel, the son of decorated coach Louie and brother of NLEX star Kevin has copped individual awards left and right.
Zoning into the UAAP boys' basketball tournament, however, Alas is yet to break through with all of DLSZ, which last made the Final Four back in 2017.
In his first two years as Jr. Archer, his efforts went down the drain after they were left standing on the outside looking into the playoff picture at sixth-place.
Now in his third go-round, however, the 6-foot-2 wing is as determined as ever to propel the green-and-white back to the semifinals.
It shows in the statistics, as he's averaging 19 points on top of 11 rebounds and 4.5 assists after the first round. So does it appear on the standings, as he and his squad are in a three-way logjam for the fourth seed with a 3-4 record.
The bad news, though, is that DLSZ is on a three-game losing skid heading into a meeting with second-running University of Santo Tomas at the open of Round 2 on Thursday.
Alas, though, was quick to point out that all of their games were ‘winnable’ - and it all just depended on endgame composure.
As he put it, “Winnable naman yung lahat ng games namin. So, it’s just a matter of closing it out.”
He also admitted that chemistry remains a work in progress for the Boris Aldeguer-coach side.
“I guess through the first round we already saw what we need to improve,” he added.
An Alas up the sleeve
Already one of the most decorated high school players today, the Grade 11 student-athlete was ranked second in the National Basketball Training Center's annual list of top 24 under-19 players in the Philippines.
Team glory, however, continues to elude him - and that's something he hopes to change in what could probably be his last year in Alabang.
"I'm confident about our chances. Hopefully, we do something good out of it," he said, as he focuses on ending the Jr. Archers' playoff drought before turning his attention to whatever opportunities may be waiting for him overseas.
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