Marikina tops elims, faces Makati in semis

MANILA, Philippines — Team Marikina sustained top form in the Batang Pilipino Basketball League, closing out with three victories over the weekend to sweep the elimination round of the inaugural 18-and-under tournament at the Palaruang Batang Lambak in Sta. Elena, Marikina City.

The hosts swept their first four games in the first weekend play of the pre-season event then crushed Pricerba MKT, 125-43, and QC-North RPBC, 84-63, and scored a walkover win over QC-South RPBC in afternoon play last Saturday to cap its domination of the eight-team tournament.

As top seed, Marikina will take on No. 4 Makati Pembo Pecas in the crossover semifinals slated this weekend while No. 2 Batang Cainta and third ranked Mandaluyong Megaworks will dispute the other finals berth in the community-based cage league put up by the BPBL, headed by league commissioner Ron Camara, to discover and develop talents from various sectors of the community, including the out-of-school youth.

Makati Pembo bucked its final game loss to Batang Cainta, 75-87, to claim the last Final Four berth with a 3-4 slate, nipping QC-North RPBC and QC-South RPBC in the tiebreak.

Batang Cainta edged Mandaluyong, 85-82, repulsed QC-South RPBC, 73-67, then smothered Pricerba-MKT, 82-48, to clinch No. 2 with a 6-1 card while Mandaluyong bounced back from its loss to Batang Cainta with a 79-68 victory over Pasig SA3 DW and a 79-65 win over Pricerba MKT to finish third at 5-2.

The semis winners will dispute the crown and the bragging rights as the BPBL pre-season champion on Saturday with the losers clashing for third place honors.

For details, visit the league’s FB page @teamBPBL, IG and website www.batangpilipinobasketball.ph.