Long road to glory for Alaska

Alaska may have made it look easy, ending the quest for its 13th title in Game 6 of the PBA Fiesta Conference against powerhouse defending champion San Miguel Beer in Game 6. But the route to glory ran parallel with the highway to hell, and even coach Tim Cone described the championship as one of “the most special” because of the path they took to get there. Ranked fourth after the eliminations toting an 11-7 mark, Alaska ran into perennial crowd favorite Ginebra in the quarterfinals where it had to endure five full grueling games, and this after winning the first two matches, to advance to a semifinal series against powerhouse Talk N Text. It may be lost in all the hoopla now, but the Aces needed to win a pair of do-or-die matches after falling, 2-3, against the fancied Texters. And maybe people forgot that Alaska had to buck the absence of key frontliner Sonny Thoss to upset talk ‘N Text, the tournament’s No. 1 seed. “What makes it most special because the road we had to take to get here was just so incredible,” said multi-titled head coach Tim Cone, who looked overwhelmed just running through the flashbacks of his team’s playoff surprise. The Aces had never beaten the Beermen in the conference eliminations but when it came down in the Finals, the Aces struck the early punch as they blitzed to a 2-0 series lead where eventually the Beermen would find themselves in a hole too deep to crawl out of. San Miguel managed to pull within 3-2 in the series but in Game 6, Alaska looked well on its way to bag the plum as it opened the game on fire, thanks to Cyrus Baguio, who unloaded 10 of his 24 points in the first quarter. “It’s a nice feeling because it’s been quite some time (since I last won a championship). We did everything we can and I thank Coach Tim that he trusted me,” said Baguio in Filipino, who was traded from Ginebra at the start of the conference. Baguio was awarded as the co-Finals MVP along with heady guard LA Tenorio. But it was a pure collective effort from the Aces, and even Thoss, who had to settle into a rhythm after coming back from an injury to rejoin the Aces in the finals, found a way to contribute in Game six. The six-foot-seven center, who is nursing a chipped bone in his right ankle, had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds and was one of five Alaska players registering twin digits in points Cone’s has now snared his 13th title and moved to within two titles of the all-time record of 15 titles set by the legendary Baby Dalupan. And it seemed that even fate cooperated with Cone in his quest to lead the Aces to the championship. “We hit terrific shots all night, we defended well. Cyrus (Baguio) made some big shots in the first quarter. LA (Tenorio) carried us with passing, Diamon (Simpson) stepped up in the fourth quarter,” praised Cone. “It was almost like a script. That’s the way it went today,” he finished. That script included sending off 15-year veteran and skipper Jeffrey Cariaso with a PBA title and giving import Diamon Simpson something to remember the PBA by as he chases other hoop goals in other countries. “I’m thankful, it’s amazing. The energy, the good vibes, it’s something that I’ll never forget,” said Simpson, who celebrated, ironically, with a can of San Miguel Beer in hand. “Definitely something you can write in the books, we weren’t first place, we weren’t considered to beat Talk N Text and Ginebra and we luckily had the enthusiasm and the character to win this game,” Simpson ebulliently finished.