INQUIRER Sports

ANTIPOLO CITY—Alaska’s reign as defending Smart PBA Fiesta Cup champion now hangs by a thread after the Aces dropped into the one-miss-you-die wildcard phase that starts Wednesday at the Ynares Center here.

The Aces, who won this tournament at the expense of Purefoods in seven pulsating games last year, slug it out with Sta. Lucia Realty in the first of two games they have to win in order to join the playoff proper where three teams are waiting.

Game time is 4:50 p.m. with Alaska, which finished No. 6 in the elimination round topped by Air21, still licking the wounds of a 97-90 loss to Ginebra.

Purefoods, the No. 7 squad, is also in the same boat, with the Tender Juicy Giants scheduled to lock horns with the eighth-seeded Talk ‘N Text side in the 7:20 p.m. main game.

Wildcard format calls for the winner of these two games to advance opposite each other and draw the Gin Kings in the best-of-three quarterfinal round.

Magnolia and Coca-Cola are the teams in the other pairing.

The Aces made a late run at one of the automatic berths in the playoffs, for a while putting themselves in contention for an outright Final Four seat after winning six straight games at one point in the eliminations.

But losses in two of their last three games doomed the Aces, who have the shortest import in the field in Randy Holcomb, an all-around talent who has been working hard but has not gotten the results he wants for Alaska.

Willie Miller, the reigning Most Valuable Player, veteran Jeffrey Cariaso and starting point guard LA Tenorio will be the main supporting cast for Holcomb. Sonny Thoss will man the center position for coach Tim Cone and will have Lee Benson as his responsibility.

Sta. Lucia dropped to this round because of import woes, with Benson actually being the Realtors’ third import for the tournament.

The reigning Philippine Cup champions closed out its elimination round schedule with a 7-11 slate and is the lowest-ranked team in the wildcard.

Aside from Benson, Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes will again have to take over if the Realtors want to entertain thoughts of advancing. Dennis Espino, Denok Miranda and even Joseph Yeo are the other vital elements in the Sta. Lucia game.

James Yap and Kerby Raymundo, meanwhile, will again be Purefoods’ 1-2 offensive options, with help in the middle coming from 7-foot import Reda Rhalimi and June Simon to again come off the bench.

Purefoods lost some close games in the eliminations but will have its hands full against the Phone Pals, whose six-game losing streak in the middle of the first phase dragged them this deep into the standings.

Terrence Leather, who exploded for 49 points against the Red Bull Barako last week, will be a marked man for Talk ‘N Text.