As quarterfinals starts, Terrafirma seizes bold chance

Javi Gomez de Liano helps Terrafirma slip past NorthPort and into the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals. –PBA IMAGES

Not content with just having ended its long PBA playoff drought, Terrafirma is not shy in saying that San Miguel Beer can be beaten.

“To say that they’re San Miguel, I think that we’re not intimidated,” Javi Gomez de Liaño said after the Dyip completed the eight-team quarterfinal cast for the Philippine Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday with a 104-96 win over the NorthPort Batang Pier at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The serious business of the all-Filipino gets going on Friday with a pair of best-of-three openers at Smart Araneta Coliseum, with Meralco facing NLEX at 4:30 p.m. and TNT taking on Rain or Shine at 7:30 p.m.

Terrafirma will get its chance of trying to overhaul San Miguel’s twice-to-beat advantage and myth of invincibility on Saturday in the 3 p.m. game at Rizal Memorial Coliseum, to be followed by sibling foes Barangay Ginebra and Magnolia at 6:15 p.m.

Ginebra also has a twice-to-beat bonus over Magnolia going into the renewal of their rivalry dubbed “Manila Clasico.”

Terrafirma ended a drought of 16 consecutive conferences without making the playoffs after strong performances from Gomez de Liaño, Juami Tiongson and rookie Stephen Holt.

Midnight didn’t strike yet for Cinderella Terrafirma, which will now look to extend its stay in the ball by putting up a competitive showing against San Miguel like it did in the elimination phase.

Narrow loss last time

The Dyip fell short, 113-110, last April 10. They led in some parts of the match, only for the Beermen to display their deep lineup and claim one of their 10 victories in the elimination round.“We only lost by three in our previous game, we just collapsed in the end,” said Gomez de Liaño. “We just have to do our part and we have to play our very best against San Miguel.”

San Miguel came close to sweeping the eliminations, dropping its final assignment against Meralco the past weekend, and will be eager to atone itself for the missed opportunity of being perfect entering the playoffs.

MVP teams Meralco and NLEX begin the playoff tussle with a chance to draw first blood.

Meralco became the unexpected third seed after winning its final three games, while NLEX avoided the dreaded playoff when it took a nosedive following a fantastic start, only to beat Ginebra to claim the sixth seed.

TNT wound up fourth after a topsy-turvy elimination round while Rain or Shine ended up in fifth after bucking a 0-4 start to win six of seven.