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Jason
Castro starred in Harbour Centre’s 73-69 win over San
Mig Coffee and the Batang Pier completed a sweep of
their best-of-three semifinals in the 2008 Philippine
Basketball League (PBL) Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup
Thursday at the Muntinlupa City Sports Center.
In the first game, Burger King stalled
the entry of Hapee Toothpaste in the finals after
pulling off a surprising 70-69 win.
Castro scored all but one of Batang
Pier’s last seven points in the last 70 seconds of the
game to lead Harbour Centre’s late fourth-quarter
comeback and put the league’s current dynasty to its
fifth-straight final-round appearance.
The two-time league Most Valuable Player
finished with a game-high 25 points to go with seven
rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots in another
performance that reminded everyone why foreign teams are
salivating over the diminutive playmaker.
It was indeed another sorry loss for the
Coffee Kings, who, like in the first two games,
dominated the first three quarters before losing steam
in the end.
San Mig Coffee was holding a 68-66 lead
when Castro hit a step-back three-pointer that sparked a
personal 5-0 blast to give Harbour Centre a 71-66 lead
with less than 20 seconds left in the game.
Bonbon Custodio led the Coffee Kings
with 24 points but his turnover in his team’s final
possession did San Mig Coffee in. Castro picked up the
loose ball and split his charities in the other end to
preserve the victory.
Badly beaten in the first two games, the
Whoppers came out with a different intensity and mindset
to stave off elimination and force a Game Four on
Saturday in Trece Martires in Cavite.
Khiel Misa finally came out of a scoring
slump in the series with a game-high 16 points, while
Jayson Ballesteros and Abby Santos combined for 26
points and 18 rebounds.
“This is a series and we take it one
game at a time. We got one, now it’s time to dream for
another one,” said Burger King head coach Allan
Gregorio. “Now we are starting to believe in ourselves.”
Down by eight points entering the final
canto, 49-57, the Whoppers tightened on defense and
banked on the offensive exploits of Marcy Arellano to
get back in the game. They took a 67-64 lead after
Santos completed a three-point play off Alfie Grijaldo,
3:23 left in the game.
The Complete Protectors tried to tie the
count quickly but Mark Borboran and Gabe Norwood’s
three-point attempts missed their mark and Larry
Rodriguez hit a jumper from deep right corner to close
the gap, 66-67, 1:11 remaining.
Ballesteros, a six-foot-seven lanky
center from
San Sebastian
College, sank probably the biggest basket of his young
career when his 15-foot jumper beat the 24-second buzzer
that gave Burger King some distance, 69-66, with 45
ticks left.
Both teams exchanged empty possessions
in the ensuing plays and Norwood, who was held to just
eight points on a quiet three-of-nine shooting from the
field, had the chance to send the game in overtime. But
his rainbow attempt again missed the target.
Santos
collared the rebound and sealed the win with a split
charity, before Reed Juntilla hit a buzzer-beater
three-pointer to peg the final score.
Rodriguez paced Hapee with 18 points while Borboran,
Grijaldo and Juntilla each had 10 markers. Juntilla, who
exploded for 30 in Game Two in Baguio City, shot
three-of-11 from the field. |
