Gin Kings, Tropa deliver first blow

MANILA, Philippines — In businesslike fashion, emotional Barangay Ginebra and red-hot TNT delivered the first blow against their respective sibling rivals in the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals.

Dedicating their campaign to cancer-fighting skipper LA Tenorio, the Gin Kings outclassed sister team but heated opponent San Miguel Beer, 121-112, to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five semis duel at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Unbeaten in their last nine games dating back to the elims, the in-form Tropang Giga overpowered Meralco, 110-80, to similarly gain the head start in their side of the family feud-themed Final Four.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, reprising his all-around exploits in TNT’s 132-105 quarterfinal drubbing of Phoenix, produced another triple double of 22-13-12 to lead the top seeds past their fellow MVP Group squad.

With Hollis-Jefferson catching fire early, the Tropang Giga raced to a 31-19 tear and kept their foot pressed on the pedal all the way through. RR Pogoy fired 21 markers while Calvin Oftana, Mikey Williams and Jayson Castro added at least 12 each.

Earlier, Christian Standhardinger banged in 33 points on a 13-of-19 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and five assists to lead Ginebra to victory with Tenorio in attendance.

Tenorio sat on the bench to help out as part of the coaching staff while he gets treatment for stage three colon cancer.

“It’s a great honor that he’s here with us and doing things he wants to do while doing things he needs to do. He’s just a natural born leader. I find it really selfless on his part to be here and the whole team feels that,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone said of their skipper.

“It’s kind of corny saying we’re doing it for LA but of course, we’re doing it for LA. He honors us with his presence. Hopefully we honor him by continuing to play hard and in his image.”