AS dominant as the University of the Philippines was in its 75-47 rout of Ateneo on Wednesday, it’s best to remember that it took quite a while for State U to get here.
Quite frankly, the Battle of Katipunan hasn’t been much of a battle, as the blue-and-white has lorded over their face-offs, winning 48 of the 69 times they’ve met in the Final Four era.
READ: Despite Battle of Katipunan sweep, UP will never take Ateneo for granted
The Fighting Maroons’ eliminations sweep of the Blue Eagles this UAAP Season 87 is actually only the third time that Katipunan Ave. has been completely colored maroon.
And the past instances that they did, all of the current players - from stars Francis Lopez, JD Cagulangan, and Quentin Millora-Brown to the third-stringers - had not even been born.
There's a first time for everything
The first was way back in Season 57.
Coach Joe Lipa marked his return to Diliman after a brief run with Shell Rimula X in the PBA and had to take charge for his alma mater following the departure of Rey Madrid.
Safe to say, it was a struggle of a season, with the maroon-and-green only managing to win four games out of 12, as there were less games played because of Adamson's one-year suspension due to Marlou Aquino’s academic issues.
But two of those victories came at the Blue Eagles’ expense, both of which were played at Loyola Center (now Blue Eagle Gym).
The first was a 76-74 escape back in July 26, 1994, and the second was a surprising 94-78 blowout on Sept. 10, 1994 with Paul Du scoring 31 big points.
Also part of that UP squad were Dexter Racho, Harlan Yu, Bing Victoria, and current Baby Falcons coach Mike Fermin, as well as Ian Sanchez, Jonathan Serrano, Philip Castro, Mon Garcia, and Jasper Javier.
Now-Far Eastern University assistant coach Gabby Severino and Red Camua were the leaders of that Cris Calilan-coached Ateneo team.
The two squads wound up with identical 4-8 records that season.
I recognize you
Two years later, the Fighting Maroons repeated the feat in Season 59.
This time, another alumnus in Eric Altamirano was calling the shots with Ryan Gregorio and Lino Ong serving as assistants.
Spurred by spunky youngsters Paolo Mendoza, Ogie Gumatay, and Bryan Gahol, the Iskos escaped with a 77-75 thriller on Aug. 17, 1996 at Araneta Coliseum, before doing it again in the second round at Ninoy Aquino Stadium with an 83-79 nipping on Sept. 18, 1996.
The Fighting Maroons would make a spirited run to the Final Four thanks to a 9-5 record, placing third before falling to University of Santo Tomas in the semifinals.
Among those who were part of that crew were veterans Racho, Serrano, Victoria, and Javier, as well as Kelvin de Chavez, Rene Carl Cayetano, Peter Fabie, Allan Gambao, Andrew Lapena, Patrick Madarang, and Edcel Ronda.
Mark Molina was coaching that Blue Eagles squad which had the likes of now-longtime assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga and Ateneo women's mentor LA Mumar as players back then. They finished with a 7-7 record, just a win shy of making it to the next round.
It took 28 years for UP's season sweep of Ateneo - in the elims, at the very least, for now - to be achieved anew, and you bet the Diliman community is relishing gaining the upper hand in this modern-day rivalry.
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