Muntinlupa and SGA-LGR set up a finals date for the 2025 Milcu Sports Got Skills Basketball U16 Talent Identification Program after impressive semis wins on Friday, Feb. 7, at the Greenhills West Clubhouse, San Juan.
NCR-Muntinlupa Cafe Uno bucked a shaky start en route to a 72-58 victory over Leyte-Dream Big Leyte behind the tandem of Andwele Cabañero, younger brother of UST standout Nic, and Sam Esomchi.
NCR-SGAxLGR, on the other hand, fended off a late comeback attempt by NCR-Safestep to complete a 69-59 win and book the second finals ticket.
Kiefer Panganiban came through with a tough basket, giving SGAxLGR its biggest lead at 49-37 cushion early in the third but Safestep turned to Sky Jazul as the second-generation star scored five straight points to cut the deficit to five at the end of the frame, 51-46.
NCR-SGA-LGR held on to prevail and arranged a title clash with Muntinlupa.
Muntinlupa trailed by as many as 11 early and was staring at a 26-32 deficit at the halftime break but Cabañero came alive, fueling a 9-0 run to open the third as they cruised to a 37-32 lead.
Freedom Okafor and Esomchi then joined in on the scoring spree as Muntinlupa held Leyte to just three points in the frame to build a 44-35 cushion heading to the payoff period.
Leyte tried to fight back behind Francis Rosales and Chrisitan Onde and trimmed the gap to a single digit, 60-51, with 3:48 left. Rowie Cabañero, who was coming off a blazing 30-point performance yesterday, then sank two free throws to further cut the deficit to seven at 60-53.
But Muntinlupa’s Cabañero scored four quick points before Esomchi completed a three-point play for a 64-53 lead. Esomchi buried the dagger off a corner three-pointer to carry his side to the championship round later today.
Cabañero and Esomchi produced double-double outings for Muntinlupa with the former dropping 23 points and 13 rebounds alongside eight assists and four steals. Esomchi finished with 18 markers and 19 boards together with three steals and one block.
