CLOSE, but finally, with a cigar.
Meralco Fil-Am forward Cliff Hodge emerged from the champagne-filled Bolts dugout and the first thing he did was to smoke a cigar, celebrating their title-clinching win, his first in his 12-year PBA stint.
“I’ve been waiting to smoke this for so long. Man, finally a champion. Finally, a champion. Feels so good,” Hodge said. “We’ve been through so many ups and downs. We’ve lost four finals and, of course, after a loss you always try to figure out how we get this done as a team.
“We just kept believing. Credit to my teammates and coaching staff for getting us prepared and we came out here and finally got it done,” he added.
Ditto with another veteran, guard Chris Banchero, who endured four Big Dance setbacks too when he was still playing for the defunct Alaska ballclub from 2015-2018 before linking up with Meralco in 2022.
Three of those finals losses were handed by the Beermen and one by Magnolia.
What made the Bolts’ maiden crown doubly sweet was the path they took to reach the Promised Land.
“I can’t even put it into words. To win it this way, you know, the past seven weeks have kind of been a blur. We were in 11th place, we had to win four games in a row,” Banchero said. “Then (the) playoffs, and then we had to go through NLEX, Ginebra, and we had to get through San Miguel. That’s a tough task. But everybody stepped up, and there’s not many words to describe this feeling.”
Hodge, whom Meralco tabbed fourth overall in the PBA Draft in 2012, became a champion and a father on Father’s Day, too.
“At the end of the day, I just wanted to leave it out there on the court, just trust in my teammates, trust in God. I’m praying a lot. God’s given me everything that I’ve ever wanted,” Hodge said.
