Bolts, not Kings, in finals
SAN JOSE, Batangas, Philippines — In 14 seasons in the PBA, the Philippine Cup finals has been generally a dead end for the Meralco franchise.
But with 48 minutes of hard work and a showcase of true grit in a pressure-packed semifinal sudden death on the road, the Bolts finally cracked it.
The troops of Luigi Trillo met their date with destiny by outduelling rival Barangay Ginebra in Game 7, 78-69, last night in front of a near capacity crowd at the FPJ Arena here.
The Bolts used a game-changing 19-3 blast in the last 7:25 of the second to wipe out an 11-point deficit, wrest control, 36-31, and build momentum for a strong push in the second half to finally make it after years of fruitless knocking at the All-Filipino finals door.
Prior to this breakthrough, the squad reached the last three PC semifinals only to get stuck there. In the 2020 bubble, the Bolts fell to Ginebra, 2-3, then absorbed a 2-4 defeat to Magnolia the following season before getting edged by eventual champion San Miguel Beer in a seven-game tiff last season.
Beginning Wednesday, the Bolts will get their shot at payback against the Beermen in the best-of-seven championship series and more importantly, an opportunity to strike gold for the first time in franchise history.
Chris Banchero and Chris Newsome spearheaded the offensive with a playoffs career-high 24 and 20, respectively, making the bulk of them when the Bolts turned things around in the second period then widened the gap to as many as 11 in the third.
Bong Quinto contributed 10 while Brandon Bates, Raymond Almazan, Cliff Hodge and Kyle Pascual took turns containing Christian Standhardinger.
Ginebra’s scoring machine Standhardinger was held to 16 on 6-of-17 shooting as Scottie Thompson showed the way with 20.
Defense was the primary weapon utilized by Meralco in successfully fighting back from a 2-3 deficit in the series.
In the second canto, the Bolts stifled the Gin Kings to a measly 11 – the lowest output in a quarter in the playoffs for the proud franchise.
