In-form Williams, Reyes key to Sta. Lucia's sizzling start

MANILA, Philippines - PBA coaches are hardly surprised by Sta. Lucia’s strong start in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup, maintaining that the Realtors will be a force to reckon with for as long as Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes are healthy.

The Realtors have emerged as among the early frontrunners of the all-Filipino tourney, winning three of their first four outings notwithstanding the departure of longtime main man Dennis Espino and three other key players in Paolo Mendoza, Denok Miranda and Norman Gonzales.

Coach Boyet Fernandez and his chargers seek to sustain their steady start as they take on the Alaska Milk Aces at the resumption of the season-opening tourney tomorrow at the Araneta Coliseum.

The other Wednesday match pits San Miguel Beer and Rain or Shine.

“Ryan Reyes and Kelly Williams provide Sta. Lucia the firepower, consistency and quickness. They give Sta. Lucia so much strength. With Ryan and Kelly there, Sta. Lucia will always be tough to beat,” said Burger King coach Yeng Guiao.

“They (Williams and Reyes) are arguably the best 1-2 combination in the league right now. With Reyes healthy and even Kelly 80 to 90 percent healthy, they can lead their team to victory,” said Purefoods mentor Ryan Gregorio.

“Sta. Lucia has a great lineup with Kelly and Ryan. The only question for them is health,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone.

With the lineup that they have, Sta. Lucia top honcho Buddy Encarnado and coach Boyet Fernandez themselves are upbeat on their chance to reclaim the crown the team won in the 2007-08 season.

“We’re sad with the exit of Dennis (Espino) but we have to move on. The team is working hard in practice and I can assure everybody we’ll always be there fighting,” said Encarnado.

“There’s no question that Kelly and Ryan were major factors in our 3-1 start but there’s also our other guys playing their roles to the hilt. Josh Urbiztondo and Ardy Larong played big in our last game, Joseph Yeo, Bitoy Omolon and Gabby Espinas helped a lot in our last two won games while Dennis Daa was steady in all our first four games,” said Fernandez.