Jayson Castro was unleashed as the TNT Katropa dragged down the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 122-109, in Game Four of their semifinal clash, Saturday evening at a jam-packed Cuneta Astrodome.
The Katropa will now face Charles Rhodes and the heavily-favored San Miguel Beermen in the championship bout, their sixth Finals appearance in the mid-season conference and their 17th Finals appearance overall.
Moreover, this will be the first title series of the franchise under first-year coach Nash Racela.
“It’s not the numbers that matter, but the Lord’s hand in favor with us,” said an emotional Racela. “I know we were going to this game facing a Ginebra crowd and lahat nung favor is on them. But, it’s the Lord’s favor that matters.”
The 5-foot-10 Castro scored his third career-best 38 points on a remarkable 62 percent shooting from the floor, spiked by five triples, and dished out 11 assists. The Blur also hauled down seven caroms and racked up two steals.
“Going into game four, parang yung mindset ko is to be aggressive na lang,” said the Katropa’s undisputed leader. “Kailangan kong maging aggressive and maging example din for the young guys, kasi I’m one of the veterans.”
Down 106-103 with 7:38 in the payoff period, TNT — who had at one point led by 12 in the third frame — ran to an overwhelming 19-1 scoring spree powered by Castro and punctuated by Kelly Williams’s charities to seal the deal, 122-107, with 1:49 left.
The top-seeded Barangay were simply stunned; they could not get anything going as they tried to stage one last hurrah. Their only field goal late in the game was a Japeth Aguilar dunk nine ticks after Williams’ freebies.
“It was our focus and composure that helped us in the day,” added Racela of the victory. “Kaya sa game, alam ko as long as we do the right things, good things will happen. And in the end, we survived.”
TNT’s injured import Joshua Smith made up for his limited Game Three outing as he scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds. RR Garcia had 16 points, five boards, and five dimes, while Roger Pogoy added 13 markers.
The Gin Kings’ loss wasted a notable night for Aguilar, who had 31 points on 19 shots alongside seven rebounds and three blocks. Justn Brownlee filled the stat sheet with 25 points, 15 boards, seven dimes, and three blocks.
LA Tenorio had a double-double of 20 points and 10 assists.
Game One of the TNT-San Miguel best-of-seven title clash will be on Wednesday, June 21, 7:00 PM, at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
TNT (122) – Castro 38, Smith 18, Garcia 16, Williams 14, Pogoy 13, De Ocampo 9, Semerad 5, Tautuaa 4, Reyes 3, Rosales 2, Rosario 0.
Ginebra (109) – Aguilar 31, Brownlee 25, Tenorio 20, Devance 14, Thompson 10, Ellis 6, Marcelo 2, Mercado 1, Ferrer 0.
Quarterscores: 29-35, 66-63, 95-92, 122-109.
