Janine Pontejos wasted no time making her presence felt, powering Akari-Rizal to a dominant 100-67 victory over her former team Caloocan in the 2026 Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League on Wednesday at the MRB Gymnasium.
Pontejos, who was dealt to the Sparks alongside Rejoice Adlawan in exchange for Angel Anies and a second-round pick last week, torched her former squad with five triples en route to 21 points and five assists in just 16 minutes of action in her Akari-Rizal debut.
The win carried bigger implications for the Sparks, who secured at least a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals after improving to 6-1 and climbing to the top of the standings.
(C) WMPBL
Akari-Rizal remain in prime position to secure an outright semifinals berth as they continue their strong run in the tournament supported by Aktive.
The Sparks never looked back after a blistering start, racing to a 26-8 lead in the opening quarter and maintaining full control throughout. Akari-Rizal led by as many as 40 points in the fourth quarter following a Galicia layup that made it 92-52 with 4:09 remaining, sealing a wire-to-wire win.
“We need this win because we want this to be a springboard going into the next games dahil medyo, I would say malalakas ‘yung kalaban because we got Biñan and Batangas,” said Sparks head coach Derick Pumaren.
“We have to be ready for that kaya we didn’t take things for granted in this game,” he added.
Allana Lim added 15 points, four rebounds, and three assists, while Joanne Nagma contributed 10 points and five rebounds in less than 11 minutes of action for Akari-Rizal.
Jhenn Angeles finished with nine points, four assists, and three rebounds, while Camille Sambile tallied eight points, three assists, and two rebounds as the Sparks stretched their winning streak to four.
(C) WMPBL
Meanwhile, the Lady Kankaloo fell to 1-6 in the standings but remain in contention for a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals, needing to win their final three games to stay in the race.
Janeth Sison led Caloocan with 13 points and four rebounds, while Tin Capilit and Sofia Felisarta added 10 points each.
The Scores:
Akari-Rizal 100 – Pontejos 21, Lim 15, Nagma 10, Angeles 9, Sambile 8, Galicia 6, Prado 6, Palmera-Dy 5, Del Prado 4, Adlawan 4, Candelario 4, Ventura 3, Salapong 3, Abatayo 2, Flor 0
Caloocan 67 – Sison 13, Felisarta 10, Capilit 10, Anies 7, Camagong 7, Lorenzvi 6, Pedregosa 4, Serrano 4, Candido 3, Galgerra 1, Gonzalo 2, Ngo 0, Marcos 0, Madrid 0
Quarterscores: 26-8, 54-25, 77-40, 100-67
