SHAINA Nitura made it clear that this is the part of the season where her focus will be firmly undaunted and undivided.
“Eyes on the prize,” the Adamson captain said.
That prize is not the scoring title she secured for the second time in a row, finishing with 284 points in UAAP Season 88 at 20.29 per game, this time even without the 30-point outings that littered her rookie run.
It is not the MVP race either, even as chants echoed her name at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion following the Lady Falcons' Final Four-clinching sweep of Far Eastern University.
READ: Nitura shows Adamson way past FEU, back into Final Four
For Nitura, the focus is singular.
“Tinuruan kami ni coach [JP] Yude na laging uunahin ‘yung team. Very grateful lang ako na ‘yung gusto naming makuha (Final Four) is now in our hands. We hold it, and now we focus,” she said.
Even the so-called sophomore slump never entered her equation, following an unprecedented first year that saw Nitura shatter one record after another.
“Ang pangit naman po kasi tignan kung you’re focusing on individual awards, tapos iiwan mo ‘yung team mo. Mas importante pa rin sa’kin na sabay-sabay kaming umangat,” she added.
“Kung ibigay (MVP), e ‘di ibigay kasi given by God, thank you pa rin. Pero if not, hindi naman kasi ‘yun ang pinaka-goal. Ang goal namin ay pumasok ng Final Four, pumasok ng finals kung kakayanin, kaya eyes on the prize.”
Adamson all in this together
That belief was ingrained on her by no other than Yude, her longtime mentor who has shared a winning journey with her coming from the juniors ranks.
Back then, they dared to dream of greatness.
“Nu’ng nasa girls [division] pa lang sila, sabi ko nga, mangarap tayong mag-champion tayo nang sabay-sabay,” Yude said.
“Nag-champion tayo sa girls, by God’s will, and then kaya namin dalhin ‘yun papuntang college. ‘Yan talaga ‘yung gusto naming mangyari.”
Win it all, they did, in high school and as they have brought Adamson back to the collegiate Final Four after three years, their manifestation looks like it has its continuation.
And Yude summed it up best, in saying, “Sabi nila si Lord, after three days, He rose again. Tapos kami, after three years, we rose again.”
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