BOOSTERS MAKE IT NINE IN ROW, ROLL TO FINAL FOUR

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The Petron Blaze Boosters won’t allow themselves to see the end of their hot streak in this stage of the conference.

Petron lived up to its billing as the elimination-round topnotcher, crushing Barangay Ginebra, 101-94, to book a seat in the PBA Governors’ Cup Final Four at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Thursday night.

Things became a lot easier for the Boosters as Ginebra leader and top gun Mark Caguioa went down with a suspected MCL injury just 14 minutes into the contest.

The Boosters made a big 34-17 tear in the second period and led by as many as 25 in the third period before weathering a Ginebra storm in the final canto for a ninth straight victory that shoved the team to the semis versus the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.

Earlier in the day, the E-Painters rallied from a 12-point deficit and beat out the Globalport Batang Pier, 108-106, in their own quarters showdown.

The E-Painters, the reigning champs, and the Boosters, the 2011 titleholders, clash in Game One of their best-of-five semifinals series Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

An interesting subplot is the coaching duel between RoS coach Yeng Guiao and protégé Gie Abanilla.

“I’ve learned a lot from coach Yeng. I know for a fact his leadership skill is very high. And knowing these guys (the E-Painters), semis is going to be such a challenge,” said Abanilla.

“Our modest goal was to make the semis. Now that we’re here, we now aim for a higher goal,” Abanilla also said.

Elijah Millsap came through with a second straight triple-double job with 22 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds (a fourth double came in the form of 10 errors) while Arwind Santos put in double-double numbers with 17 markers and 13 boards as the Boosters eliminated the eighth-ranked Kings from further contention.

And Ginebra was the fifth team to call it a season after Air21, Talk n Text, Barako Bull and Globalport.

But as a fighting team that they are, the Kings didn’t just roll over and die despite the early exit of Caguioa.

The Boosters needed to regroup to repel Ginebra’s fourth-quarter rally.

Amazing were the Kings’ charge that saw them rise from a 25-point hole and come to within one twice at 88-89 and 90-91.

The Boosters, however, won’t just be denied.

Millsap, Santos and Marcio Lassiter joined forces to scuttle the Kings’ comeback bid.

Junmar Fajardo, Alex Cabagnot and Lassiter also put in double-digit outputs for the Boosters who built a 25-point spread at 74-49.

The scores:

Petron 101 – Millsap 22, Fajardo 20, Santos 17, Cabagnot 12, Lassiter 11, Lanete 8, Kramer 8, Lutz 3, Tubid 0, Ildefonso 0.

Ginebra 94 – Lowhorn 31, Tenorio 20, Urbiztondo 14, Baracael 11, Helterbrand 6, Mamaril 4, Caguioa 4, Ellis 2, Maierhofer 2, Ababou 0, Wilson 0, Raymundo 0.

Quarters: 24-25, 58-42, 83-69, 101-94

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