Better postgame scenes this time as Converge nails first semis berth
Converge clinched its first semifinal appearance in franchise history, and the scene that erupted after the buzzer looked like the team had just won the championship.
It began with Calvin Abueva, who had been ejected in the third quarter and who was watching from the hallway of the Smart Araneta coliseum as the final seconds ticked away. He began taunting the Rain or Shine by shouting “Bora!” repeatedly—a jeer implying vacation time for an eliminated team—before waving a white towel.
“Semis! Semis! Semis!” Abueva screamed. When the buzzer finally sounded, he rushed to the court to join his teammates as they celebrated their 120-109 win over the Elasto Painters in Game 4 of the PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals.
Members of Converge didn’t wait until they returned to the dugout to celebrate. The team and its faithful stayed on the court, reflecting on the breakthrough feat that had eluded the FiberXers until Friday night.
“It’s history for us. God is good,” Converge tactician Delta Pineda said after beating Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, his Pampanga provincemate and political ally.
Behind Juan Gomez de Liano, Abueva, Jonnel Policarpio, Alec Stockton, Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar, import Cameron Clark and Mikey Williams, whose back-to-back triples created a decisive separation from Rain or Shine with less than three minutes remaining, Converge put itself in a position to chase for another massive achievement—reaching the Finals.
But the FiberXers will have to go through a team also hungry for a first-ever trip to the championship round: The NLEX Road Warriors.
Both teams begin their best-of-five affair set to begin in December, as the league takes a break to give way to the national team’s participation in another Fiba window. The matchup will ensure that there will be a debuting finalist for the first time since the 2016 Governors’ Cup, when Barangay Ginebra brought down finals first-timer Meralco.
“I think it’s gonna take a lot of preparation, so we’re gonna start from there,” Williams said after dropping 17 points in the clincher. “We’re gonna prepare well because they’re a pretty-good team out there and well-coached as well.
“We definitely have to be in our Ps and Qs,” added Williams, using an idiom that refers to being careful about one’s behavior, manners or actions. “[We just have to] get back to the lab and get to work.”
Converge’s achievement meant the most to two of the FiberXers’ longest-tenured players, Alec Stockton and Justine Arana, who have been with the team since its inaugural season.
Stockton is the only holdover from the fabled Alaska franchise that played its final game in 2022—a quarterfinal loss to the Clark-led NLEX team. After that game, Stockton and the Aces stayed on the court a little longer.
Fast forward to Friday and Stockton lingered on the court, this time soaking in happier scenes.
“It’s definitely full circle because you remember that,” Stockton said. “Every time we lost, we remember that feeling. We bottled it up to this point, and we just laid it all out, and here we are.”
