Charge of youth brigade keeps Painters hopes afloat

Rain or Shine won on so many levels on Saturday night, with the Painters’ 97-82 rout of winless Terrafirma achieving a couple of key goals for the squad in the PBA Philippine Cup.

For starters, the victory at Mall of Asia Arena kept Rain or Shine’s hopes for a playoff spot alive—something that looked dead the past month or so.

“We went through a whole month of not winning, and now three wins in a row,” said Elasto Painters coach Chris Gavina shortly after his charges’ wire-to-wire win that had the club rising to 4-6 in the standings.

Then there was the way the Painters won—with their young guns.

With veterans Beau Belga and Gabe Norwood out along with Gilas draftee Mike Nieto due to health protocols, Rain or Shine turned to its youth core against Terrafirma. And they responded.

Lessons through fire

Sophomores Andrei Caracut and Anton Asistio both had 14 points. Santi Santillan, another second-year player added 13 while rookie Shaun Ildefonso chipped in 10 more in the effort that saw Rain or Shine lead by as many as 30 points.

“Lessons are kind of learned through the fire and tonight is a great game for our third-team guys to get quality minutes and develop that next-man-up mentality for us,” he added.

Rey Nambatac, Rain or Shine’s cornerstone, had just seven points off the bench, but with the youngsters doing okay, his normal production wasn’t really missed.

“We’re extremely happy with the position we’re in,” Gavina said. “We got one more really tough game against Magnolia on Wednesday. And it’s do-or-die for us, really.”

“Hopefully, by the grace of God, [the other] guys can really come back with no symptoms. I think their earliest testing is Tuesday for them. And if they’re able to test negative I believe they’re going to be available for us on Wednesday. We’ll definitely need all hands on deck against Magnolia,” he added.

Aldrech Ramos had 21 points while three others pumped in double-digit scores for Terrafirma which remained winless in 10 meetings.