New Zealand Bluefire-Batangas punched its ticket to the 2025 Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Finals after dominating Tagaytay-Tol, 80-64, in Game 2 of the semifinals on Wednesday at the Ynares Center in Montalban.
The Valkyries came out firing, erupting for a 31-17 opening quarter and never looking back.
They left the Patriots in the dust en route to securing a spot in the championship series of the tournament, backed by Uratex, Black Mamba, Red Dynasty, Aktiv Balls, and Pocari Sweat.
(C) WMPBL
“We had a winning mentality right from the start. We didn’t want to give any kind of life dito sa Tagaytay-Tol, because they are a very dangerous team. They have a lot of good players, quality players, so we just wanted to really start aggressively against this team,” said New Zealand Bluefire-Batangas head coach Cholo Villanueva.
“When we made stops, we were able to run on the other end. Na-dictate namin ‘yung game,” he added.
Afril Bernardino led the charge with a double-double, finishing with 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting and 10 rebounds, along with three assists and three steals. Khate Castillo delivered her best outing with 20 points, including six triples.
Pringle Fabruada added 10 points and six rebounds, while Snow Peñaranda and Rizza Lozada contributed seven and six points, respectively, for the finals-bound Valkyries.
After Luisa San Juan opened the game with a booming triple, New Zealand Bluefire-Batangas quickly seized control behind back-to-back treys from Castillo. That set the tone early and helped maintain momentum throughout the contest.
(C) WMPBL
For Tagaytay-Tol, Stefanie Berberabe came close to a triple-double, finishing with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists, along with three steals. However, it wasn’t enough to keep the Patriots in the tournament.
San Juan, returning from suspension, managed 13 points on a disappointing 5-of-17 shooting. Monique Del Carmen was limited to six points, five assists, and three rebounds in the loss.
The Scores:
New Zealand Batangas-Bluefire 80 – Bernardino 22, Castillo 20, Fabruada 10, Peñaranda 7, Lozada 6, Calang 5, Bariquit 5, Torres 3, Sanchez 1, Aquino 1, Tongco 0, Claro 0, Manzanares 0
Tagaytay-Tol 64 – Berberabe 20, San Juan 13, Domingo 9, Del Carmen 6, Paraiso 5, Harada 4, Pacia 3, Santos 2, Natural 2
Quarterscores: 31-17, 51-31, 72-52, 80-64
