INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines—The championship game plan Harbour Centre laid out sounds simple enough.

“We’ll try to finish the series,” said Batang Pier coach Jorge Gallent.

Coming from a team that has made winning almost a way of life, the job doesn’t look that tough.

The Batang Pier will fight for an unprecedented fifth straight PBL title against Hapee Toothpaste in Game 4 of the Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup Finals at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Batangas City Sports Complex.

“If my shooters get their rhythm early and Jason (Castro) gets hot again, then we have a very, very good chance of retaining our crown,” said Gallent.

After dropping the opener by the slimmest of margins, the Batang Pier won the last two games decisively to claim a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.

And it’s expectedly Castro—recently crowned with his third straight Most Valuable Player award—who will spearhead the mission to validate Harbour Centre’s status as the league’s fastest rising team.

It’s now up to Hapee to spoil Harbour Centre’s bid for a fifth title in seven conferences.

For coach Louie Alas, it’s quite clear that his Complete Protectors’ success will depend on how well they can limit Castro’s production.

And with Jervy Cruz finally getting his medical approval, the Complete Protectors might just make the shaded lane a bit more intimidating for the versatile Castro and the rest of the Batang Pier.

Cruz missed the Complete Protectors’ last six games due to a left hamstring injury sustained in the semifinal opener.

“At least we have another player who is capable of scoring at least 10 points and grabbing eight rebounds,” said Alas.

For Alas, forging a winner-take-all Game 5 remains probable after seeing notable individual performances in the Complete Protectors’ Game 3 loss, 90-78, last Wednesday in Tanauan City.

The veterans paced the Complete Protectors with Reed Juntilla delivering 19 markers and Larry Rodriguez posting a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds.

“Judging by the way we played in Game 3, we still have a chance, so the series is far from over,” noted Alas.

The Batang Pier, too, came up with the same names on their watch list.

“We should also play tough defense especially against Reed and Larry,” noted Gallent. Jasmine W. Payo