Northport whips Ginebra

MANILA, Philippines — NorthPort spoiled the birthday and the return of coach Tim Cone from his Southeast Asian Games triumph, dealing his Barangay Ginebra team a heavy 124-90 beating for a 1-0 headstart in their Governors’ Cup semis series last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Michael Qualls proved to be the biggest thorn for the crowd darlings, scattering 38 points with 15 rebounds and sparking the Batang Pier’s breakaway in the second canto. Christian Standhardinger and Garvo Lanete then took care of the mop-up operations in the last two quarters, leading a huge counter after Ginebra clawed back to within one.

Lanete, sizzling with six triples out of nine attempts, fired 24 markers, while Standhardinger delivered 16-15-6 in the comprehensive triumph which also saw former Gin King Sol Meraco (14) and Sean Anthony (11) turning in twin-digit production.

“Maybe we just caught Ginebra on an off night. Maybe we benefited more from the long break. But you could see we’re the hungrier team and we executed our game plan well, especially on defense,” said NP coach Pido Jarencio.

NorthPort’s defense held Ginebra import Justin Brownlee to four points in the final period, where the Lanete-led Batang Pier put the game beyond reach with a 46-22 exchange. Brownlee finished with 24-19-6 for Ginebra, which prepared for the opener as Cone, who turned 62 yesterday, and his chief assistants and players LA Tenorio, Stanley Pringle. Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter were pre-occupied with the SEAG mission.

“It’s a total team effort. Everyone contributed, did his share,” said Jarencio, whose eight-seeded wards have now won five straight matches dating back to the elims.

Riding on Qualls’ hot hands, the Batang Pier extricated from a tight contest with a searing second-quarter assault, 31-17, and posted a 13-point spread after two quarters.

No-quit Ginebra, however, unleashed a 14-2 salvo to threaten to within 63-62, before Standhardinger restored a fresh 78-68 upperhand then Lanete rifled in 21 markers to widen the gap some more.