Jay R. Gotera
Saudi Gazette
MANILA — The Star Hotshots quickly buried Barangay Ginebra in a hole so deep that even the fieriest comeback attempt by Kings late in the game was not enough to deny the Hotshots an 86-78 victory in their Manila Clasico match capping Sunday night’s PBA Philippine Cup double-header at the jampacked SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Led by the resurgent James Yap, Star led by as many as 31 points in the first half. Ginebra made a huge rally in the fourth quarter, holding the Hotshots scoreless in the last 4:11 of the game and cutting the deficit to a single digit. Unfortunately, time was not on the side of the Kings who began the new season under new head coach Tim Cone with a stunning defeat. Yap scored 19 points, 16 of them in the first half when the Hotshots began breaking the game wide open.
Mark Barroca and Peter June Simon added 12 points apiece. Rookie Norbert Torres also made his presence felt, converting all three of his shots to finish with eight points.
Gilas Pilipinas stalwart Marc Pingris collected just six points but had 13 rebounds and six assists.
The win was the first for Star’s rookie coach Jason Webb. Ironically, he scored the win against his former mentor Cone.
Ginebra relied on its twin towers of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar but the two got little support from their teammates.
Slaughter led all scorers with 28 points on top of 16 rebounds and four assists. Aguilar finished with 26 points plus the same number of rebounds and assists that Slaughter made.
Rookie Scottie Thompson showed his wares for Ginebra in the fourth quarter, finishing with five points and a team-high six assists despite playing for less than 17 minutes.
Rain or Shine 108, Mahindra 94
Just like in their first game, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters started cold but came out blazing in the second half to notch their second straight win with a 108-94 drubbing of the Manny Pacquiao-led Mahindra Enforcers.
Despite the absence of injured top gunner Paul Lee, the Painters showed tremendous firepower with five players in double digits.
In just his second game in the pro league, rookie Maverick Ahanmisi scored a team-high-tying 14 points, the same number posted by veteran big man JR Quinahan off the bench. Quinahan was red-hot, missing just one of his seven field goal attempts, on top of five rebounds in 21 minutes of action.
Jericho Cruz and Jeff Chan added 12 points apiece. Beau Belga chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds.
Don Trollano, another rookie, also had an impressive game for Rain or Shine, contributing eight points, four assists, and three boards.
Like in their opening game against the Star Hotshots on Wednesday, the Painters fell into a hole in the first quarter, trailing by double digits, before they began their arduous climb to the surface. But after catching up with the Enforcers at the start of the second half, there was no stopping the Painters as they rocketed to a lead of as many as 22 points. The Painters made 38-of-68 of their shots for a blistering 57 percent.
Mahindra started strong but could not keep up with the blistering pace of Rain or Shine in the payoff period. The Enforcers were led by Karl Dehesa who finished with a team-high 20 points including four three-pointers.
The game is not entirely forgettable for Mahindra as playing-coach Pacquiao finally sank his first field goal in the PBA.
Five other Enforcers scored in double digits with new acquisition Aldrech Ramos and LA Revilla posting 14 points apiece and KG Canaleta, rookie Bradwyn Guinto and Mark Yee contributing 11 markers each.
Games Wednesday: NLEX Road Warriors vs. Barako Bull Energy and Meralco Bolts vs. San Miguel Beermen.
