Canaleta powers Ginebra to semis

Nino Canaleta knew he always had to be ready just in case his coach would call his number. Last night, in a playoff against bitter rival B-Meg no less, it finally was, and the seldom-used forward made the most of the opportunity given to him.

Canaleta erupted for a season-high 25 points to power the Barangay Ginebra Kings to a 93-84 win over the Llamados in their playoff for the second PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinal berth at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Canaleta matched his entire output in the Kings' previous six games as he helped Ginebra rally back from several double-digit deficits, including a stretch in the second period where he scored 11 straight points to singlehandedly erase most of an 11-point B-Meg lead.

"I'm like a boy scout. I'm always ready," Canaleta said of his sterling performance off the bench.

"I'm happy for him," said coach Siot Tanquincen. "His hard work in practice paid off. He knows we have a logjam at the three and four spots, but he's been working hard on his shooting."

The win was the fourth straight for the Kings, and more importantly gave them an automatic berth in the semifinals along with defending champion Talk 'N Text. The Llamados, who easily handled the Kings in their elimination-round game, fell into a quarterfinal best-of-three playoff with the Meralco Bolts, who completed their rise from the grave by ousting the Powerade Tigers, 102-98, in their own playoff for sixth place.

Early on, though, it looked like the Llamados would advance to the semifinals as James Yap caught fire in the first period, scattering nine points to stake B-Meg to a 27-17 lead at quarter's end. The Llamados were still comfortably ahead at 40-29 in the second when Canaleta started his personal run, hitting three straight triples and a high-arching drive against a lone B-Meg basket to narrow the lead to 42-40.

There was a scary moment with 7:45 left in the third period when Mark Caguioa was tripped and fell hard on the floor, opening a nasty cut on his eyelid. Caguioa left the game and didn't return, but the rest of the Kings rallied around their fallen star to keep the game close.

The Llamados were up 74-72 midway through the fourth when Ginebra uncorked a crippling 19-2 run that broke the game wide open. Jackson Vroman and Canaleta both hit baskets, and then Rudy Hatfield sank a running left-hander to make it 78-74. Vroman got a difficult running shot to go down, and after Mark Pingris answered back with a undergoal stab, Mike Cortez took over, knocking down a triple and hitting Hatfield with a long pass on the break that made it 85-76 with 3:49 left.

The crowd was about ready to explode, and on the bench assistant coach Alfrancis Chua channeled his inner Pacquiao, unleashing an eight-punch combination that fired up the crowd even more.

Pingris hastened B-Meg's downfall by missing two free throws, and Denzel Bowles, who virtually disappeared in the fourth, showed his frustration with a loose ball foul on Vroman. Fittingly, Canaleta finished off the Llamados with four straight free throws that pushed the lead to 89-76.

Yap missed a triple — he would go scoreless in the fourth period — and Dylan Ababou buried a basket with two minutes left to complete the 19-2 run. B-Meg scored eight points in the last two minutes to make the final score more respectable.

Vroman had a 15-15 double-double, while Cortez flirted with a triple-double with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. Yap had 18 for B-Meg, and Bowles, who averaged 29.1 points in the elimination round, struggled for only 12 points and was visibly bothered by the defense of Hatfield.

The quarterfinals fire off tomorrow with Alaska and Barako Bull squaring off in their best-of-three series, with the winner facing TNT in the semis, followed by the B-Meg-Meralco tiff. Ginebra gets at least nine days off, time badly needed by Caguioa to allow his cut to heal.

E-mail: sid_ventura@yahoo.com. Twitter: @Sid_Ventura