PETRON BLAZE TO SEMIS
For the second straight conference, Petron Blaze and Rain or Shine – and coach Gee Abanilla and mentor Yeng Guiao – will be up against one another in the Final Four.
The Barako Bull Energy kept on charging back but the Boosters stayed on their feet and went for the kill, thus, arranging a semifinal showdown with the Elasto Painters in the PLDT myDSL PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Friday night.
Alex Cabagnot, Arwind Santos and June Mar Fajardo came up with double-double numbers leading the Boosters’ impeccable performance as they drubbed the Energy, 107-100, to complete a two-game sweep of their best-of-three quarters series.
Coach Gee Abanilla used only seven other players and each one provided a push, helping negate Rico Maierhofer’s career-best 21-point output and JC Intal’s 20-point production.
Cabagnot, Santos and Fajardo stood out though with their double-double games.
Cabagnot came through with 22 points and 12 assists, Santos piled up 17 markers and 12 boards while Fajardo got away with 17 rebounds and 14 points.
Abanilla later made special mention of Cabagnot and his other guards.
“I have to commend specifically our guards. They set the tempo. They were quick on transition and opened a lot of opportunities for us,” Abanilla pointed out.
The youthful Petron bench chieftain said it was a tough two-game sweep.
“Honestly, it’s really tough to play Barako. They have a lot of veteran players and they have a strong team. They did a good job in keeping us at bay but we’re okay at the finish,” said Abanilla.
Cabagnot, Santos and Chris Lutz proved themselves as crunch-time players, playing steady and delivering the goods at endgame.
The Boosters prevailed while also drawing big breaks, including Mick Pennisi’s exit with 7:19 left to play on technical fouls.
There were also Barako Bull’s missed free throws in the homestretch.
Carlo Lastimosa converted a bank shot from 15 feet to tie the count at 52-all at the half.
Earlier, Willie Miller played with a lot of spunk coming off the bench, sparking a rally that sent Barako ahead, 33-32, in the second quarter.
The Boosters started strong and finished stronger, thus, landing a place in the Last Four. (SB)
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