MANILA, 2 April 2007 — Two things were evident for Red Bull — one’s an old refrain and the other a promising one.

James Penny proved his worth yet again, and assistant coach Gee Abanilla showed that he can be an able substitute as both figures played brilliant parts in a 102-90 win by the Barako over Coca-Cola last night in the PBA Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Penny put the clamps on Coca-Cola counterpart Anthony Johnson in the first three quarters and then dropped a chunk of his output in the final two periods to key Red Bull’s third straight win in a league-leading 6-1 card. Abanilla, meanwhile, handled the team well in head coach Yeng Guiao’s absence, calling the shots ably and not displaying any form of hesitation even if the Tigers mounted repeated rallies.

Guiao, who is campaigning for re-election as Pampanga vice-governor, has inhibited himself from calling the shots until a formal approval from the Commission of Elections is obtained.

“Coach Yeng is just trying to be on the safe side until he can get a concrete Comelec ruling,” related Abanilla, a former crack guard in the amateur ranks who is now 3-2 in subbing for Guiao in the last three years.

The modified set-up was still more than enough to bring out the best in Red Bull’s players, who unleashed one surge after another in the decisive fourth quarter as the Barako wriggled out of a first place tie with idle Alaska.

Coca-Cola took its second straight loss, the third in the last four games, in a 3-4 card that wasn’t help any when Johnson was effectively held to harmless numbers by the ultrasmart Penny.

Penny, who led Red Bull to the championship here last year, concentrated on defending Johnson in the first half before exploding for 22 of his game-high 28 points in the second that told all the difference.

Coming into the game averaging 31.8 points, tied for second in the scoring race behind Marquin Chandler of Purefoods, Johnson was held to a personal-low 21 points, 11 of them coming in the first three periods.

Tigers center Ali Peek also had 21 points but he was held scoreless in the third period, obviously bothered by Red Bull’s double-teaming defense.

Larry Fonacier and Cyrus Baguio also shone for the Barako, with the former Ateneo ace Fonacier shooting eight of his 17 in the final frame and Baguio ending up with 16 points, counting a heave from the backcourt that beat the first quarter horn.

Meanwhile, in an odd game pitting the most complete team against the severely depleted one, Barangay Ginebra destroyed Sta. Lucia behind the fourth quarter heroics of import Rod Nealy and Sunday Salvacion.

Nealy, the left-hander who has proven himself to be at par with some of the best reinforcements in the tournament, scored 17 of his 37 and Salvacion 13 of his 23 in the fourth period of a 112-101 win in the second game that made the Kings improve to 5-2.

Ginebra played without Rudy Hatfield and Johnny Abarrientos for the second straight game.

And coupled with the absence of national team draftees Mark Caguioa, Rafi Reavis and Jay-Jay Helterbrand, the Kings appear to be the weakest team on paper at this point, especially when compared to the Realtors who are intact.

“We survived this one,” Ginebra coach Jong Uichico told Arabnews in Filipino. “We have to do some adjustments again (with Hatfield and Abarrientos out). We were already able to adjust to (the absence of Caguioa, Helterbrand and Reavis) and now here we are again.”

Hatfield went to the United States on Thursday to fix a personal problem, while Abarrientos is expected to be out at least for another week because of a groin injury.

The Realtors, who got 34 points from rookie Kelly Williams, slumped to a 2-4 card after blowing command when no one other than Williams was able to step up in the fourth period.

Import Rock Winston could have played his last game after shooting just 15 points and getting the ire of rookie coach Boyet Fernandez for not following the team’s defensive patterns early in the second half.

Eric Menk has been forced to play extended minutes despite a calf injury that has not completely healed. Menk, a former winner of the MVP award, finished with 15 points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes.

Ronald Tubid added 16 markers for the Kings, who could use the week-long break coming them.