Coach Tim Cone and Japeth Aguilar talked about the times Barangay Ginebra featured in a Christmas Day basketball showdown and both highlighted the Gin Kings’ conquest of Magnolia (then Star) eight years ago as the match at the top of their respective lists.
On Wednesday night, rookie RJ Abarrientos and cornerstone Scottie Thompson turned in a performance that caused the champion’s mentor and club game to reconsider.
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Looking dead in the water and watching from holes as deep as 22, the Gin Kings, behind Abarrientos’ fiery play and Thompson’s daring triple, escaped Magnolia by the skin of its teeth, 95- 92, to top it off. an electric holiday doubleheader that also featured a young Converge crushing Meralco at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“I was talking, reminding Japeth of the game we had at the Philippine Arena on Christmas Day with Magnolia (where) Japeth scored five three-pointers. And we laughed about it and he said, ‘That’s a match I’ll never forget,'” Cone recalled shortly after the triumph that also put the crowd’s favorites back in the winners’ column of the Commissioner’s Cup.
“I think this will be another event that we will never forget,” he continued. “I know RJ here won’t forget it. Going against (his uncle) Johnny, who is absolutely dear to my heart, and then making the big plays – the big comeback – and then getting his kuya Scottie to hit the big three-pointer.
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The heroism of Tenorio
Abarrientos, the third overall pick in the last draft, scored 17 of his 20 points in the third to spur the Gin Kings back into action. He had three steals, a block and five assists – the final being the pass that allowed Thompson to deliver the killing blow from the left corner, reminiscent of LA Tenorio’s game-winning triple that ended the Hotshots in a another encounter on Christmas Day nine years earlier. .
“It was designed for RJ to make the decision. We put the game in RJ’s hands and he made a great pass to Scottie,” Cone said. “RJ is obviously really deserving tonight and, you know, that’s just the mantra of Ginebra’s ‘Never Say Die.’ We don’t rep it as much as the old ‘Jaworski Days,’ but we still feel it and we We always talk about it and it’s still part of our culture. So tonight we lived up to Sonny Jaworski and his team.
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“I was stunned by RJ. As soon as I sat down on the bench, he knocked down two (triples). When I came back, it was hard to stop him because he was already on a roll. He’s a scoring machine and you could see he’s definitely a talent,” Magnolia veteran Mark Barroca said in Filipino. “If you can just see his aura as soon as he found a rhythm, he became so difficult to guard.”
“It hurts. As soon as I saw Scottie throw it, I said to myself: everything is correct. Then I saw the clock at zero-zero and the net just moved,” he added. “But that’s how it is. If we have to give up a chance, it’s (Scottie’s) because RJ and Justin (Brownlee) were there with the transfers.
Thompson had 14 points, five rebounds and six assists, while resident import Justin Brownlee was just as key with 28, seven and five in the triumph that pushed the Gin Kings’ win-loss record to 4- 2.
Cone said it’s one of the games that will be talked about for a long time, but it’s also something they’ve had to quickly forget about, especially with the kind of opponents looming early in the year.
Ginebra faces fellow corporate sibling Jan. 5, league-leading NorthPort on Jan. 8, then TNT, Rain or Shine and Meralco later in the month.
“A memorable match for all of us. We’ll remember this for a while, but like RJ said, we need to move on. Then we had San Miguel,” he said. “It couldn’t be simpler.”