Fully recharged after a two-week break, the San Miguel Beermen mangled the Purefoods TJ Giants, 99-83, Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum in Game 1 of their best-of-seven semifinals series in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup. Playing only his fifth game in the conference after being sidelined by injury, Jay Washington knocked in 17 points and hauled down 10 rebounds to lead a balanced San Miguel offense. Dondon Hontiveros also scored 17 markers while Arwind Santos chipped in 16. Danny Ildefonso, also coming from a long layoff due to injury, showed flashes of his old brilliance, drilling in 10 points. After a grueling five-game quarterfinals series against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, the Giants could not muster the same ferocity they displayed in their last game as fatigue took its toll. In contrast, the Beermen showed up with fresh legs and high energy as they shot the lights out of the coliseum with their long-range bombs. The same theme of a rested team whipping a worn-out rival was played in the other semifinals series as the Alaska Aces whacked the Barangay Ginebra Kings, 104-79. Tangling with the Kings for the first time in a playoff series in 13 years, the Aces had all guns blazing right at the start, dictating the tempo of the game and never giving Ginebra any chance to mount a serious rally. Sonny Thoss and Joe DeVance led the Aces, scoring double-doubles to make up for Willie Miller's scoring slump. Thoss had 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while DeVance scored 20 points and a conference-high 18 rebounds. LA Tenorio chipped in 19 points while Tony De La Cruz scored 10. The comeback king Mark Caguioa led the Kings with 23 points, including 13 in the third quarter when the Kings cut Alaska's lead to 14, 78-64, the closest they could come.But the Aces answered back with two free throws and a triple to break the game wide open anew. JC Intal, the new star in the Ginebra squad, was held to seven points on 2-of-12 shooting from the field after averaging 23.75 points and close to 10 rebounds per game in the quarterfinals.
