Over the hump

Meralco had never beaten Barangay Ginebra in four previous best-of-seven series, all of which were in the PBA Governors Cup dating back to 2016. Only once did they battle it out in a Game Seven until this Philippine Cup. In all, Ginebra had repulsed Meralco in six of seven conference playoffs over the last seven seasons. The exception was Meralco’s 2-1 win in the 2022 Philippine Cup best-of-three quarterfinals.

So when the Bolts defeated Ginebra in Game Seven of the Philippine Cup semifinals in San Jose, Batangas, last Friday, its wasn’t only monumental but also historic. It was Meralco’s first-ever Game Seven win, first-ever victory in a best-of-seven series and first-ever ascent to the Philippine Cup Finals. Making it over the hump didn’t come easy. The Bolts started the conference on a sour note, slumping to a 1-3 start marked by a 96-93 loss to Blackwater in the opener.

Then came a breakthrough 91-73 decision over Ginebra. But that didn’t avert a later slide in losing back-to-back to TNT and Converge. What made fans realize that Meralco was up to something special was its 74-51 romp over Magnolia, stamping a defensive class to put the league on notice.  But the win over the Chicken Timplados Hotshots came at a high cost with Aaron Black suffering a torn ACL in the process. Meralco wound up the elims with a 6-5 record and took the No. 3 seed via the quotient system to break ties with TNT, Rain or Shine, NLEX and Magnolia. That situated Meralco in a best-of-three duel against the Road Warriors in the quarters. In Game One, the Bolts withstood a 48-point barrage from Robert Bolick to win, 97-93 and clinched it in Game Two, 100-81. In the semis against Ginebra, Meralco went down, 0-1 and 2-3 but survived to barge into the Finals.

Meralco team manager Paolo Trillo said the Bolts are staying grounded despite overcoming Ginebra. “Playing against Ginebra was a challenge because we know how they execute so well, how they respond under pressure, how the crowd is always with them, how they adjust,” he said. “We had to be mentally strong during the series, especially after a loss because we couldn’t lower our confidence. Winning Game Seven was a result of what we