Janine Pontejos starred in her league debut as San Juan demolished RK Hoops-Quezon City, 85-47, for a rousing start to the 2025 Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League regular season presented by Akari, Sunday at the Ynares Sports Arena.
Pontejos had skipped the Invitationals earlier this year to coach Centro Escolar University.
She made a strong WMPBL debut with 17 points on top of four rebounds, four assists, and three steals to lead the Lady Knights to their first win in this tournament backed by Uratex, Black Mamba, Red Dynasty, Aktive Balls, and Pocari Sweat.
Pontejos teamed up with Chack Cabinbin, and the duo combined for 20 points in the first half as San Juan built a commanding 44-26 lead at halftime, setting the tone for a dominant performance the rest of the way.
The Lady Knights continued to dominate in the second half against the struggling RK-Hoops QC, never allowing a comeback. The lead ballooned to as much as 41 points following a split at the line by Hazel Panti with 2:45 left in the game.
(C) WMPBL
“Siyempre itong team na ‘to, puro bata. Dalawa lang makikita mong beterano diyan, si [Chack] Cabinbin and si Janine [Pontejos]. So talagang todo effort kami ngayon,” said San Juan head coach Ai Lebornio.
“Ayun, at least kahit two weeks lang ‘yung preparation namin, ‘yung mga bata ‘yung desire nila to win saka magawa ‘yung sistema namin nandun. Siyempre nakakapanibago, sa Galeries ‘yung mga players ko sila Ambie [Almazan], Cindy [Resultay], mga beterano. Eto ngayon talagang bata na kailangan tutukan,” she added.
Panti tallied 14 points on an efficient 6-of-8 shooting clip for the Lady Knights. Florence Talas added 12 points, five rebounds, and three assists, while Cabinbin had 10 markers to round out the double-digit scorers to go along with nine assists, five boards, and four steals.
Princess Pedregosa and Sthefanie Ventura added seven points apiece to go along with a combined total of 13 rebounds. Raneh Mendaros had six markers in San Juan’s balanced offensive attack.
(C) WMPBL
On the other hand, Cara Buendia was the lone bright spot for RK Hoops-Quezon City with 10 points and nine boards.
Maria Andrea Cayco chipped in seven points, while Natasha Alcantara and Melody Cac added six apiece in the loss, which brought RK Hoops-Quezon City down to 1-1 following their narrow 71–68 win over Solar Home Pangasinan last week.
The Scores
San Juan 85 — Pontejos 17, Panti 14, Talas 12, Cabinbin 10, Pedregosa 7, Ventura 7, Mendaros 6, Tolentino 5, Adlawan 4, Junsay 3, Paras 0
RK Hoops-Quezon City 47 — Buendia 10, Cayco 7, Alcantara 6, Cac 6, Flor 5, Molina 3, Geli 3, Isip 3, Young 3, Docallos 1, Canayong 0, Pamaran 0, Escotido 0
Quarterscores: 23-12, 44-26, 67-37, 85-47
