Troy Rosario. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
For Troy Rosario, Hapee has gone through enough hurdles this conference and it is now time for the team to reap the rewards it badly worked out for.
“I think we deserve to win because of the challenges we have weathered,” he said.
Hobbled by injuries and depleted by other obligations, the Fresh Fighters have found a way to pull through.
It was quite an impressive for Hapee as key cogs like Rosario, Baser Amer, and Scottie Thompson, fresh from a stint in the Southeast Asian Games, still went out of their way to contribute in Game 1.
Even more so for Rosario, who still played through pain despite spraining his ankle in the second quarter.
Coach Ronnie Magsanoc praised his tireless big man, saying, “Troy delivered. He came out and despite him having an ankle sprain, he still finished the game for us.”
Though they didn’t get ample time to practice with the Fresh Fighters, Rosario said that all three of the Gilas cadets squad were actually drained in practices for the national team, working double-time with morning and night sessions on top of grueling workouts from coach Tab Baldwin.
“We’re not short in practice. It’s just we’re not working out together as a team,” he said.
And after an 83-72 win over CafeFrance on Thursday to take a 1-0 lead in the Foundation Cup Finals, Hapee is now just a win away from sweeping the D-League hardwares this season.
“Sobrang thankful kami kasi kahit ang daming challenges na nangyari sa team, naitatawid pa rin namin yung games. Ngayon, nakuha namin yung panalo, isa na lang, back-to-back na,” the NU Bulldog said.
(We’re so thankful because even though there were so many challenges to our team, we still found ways to pull through. Now that we’ve got the win, one more and we’ll get the back-to-back.) CFC