ILOCOS NORTE – Luke Rose ignited within the second half to hold Western Visayas to an 80-73 come-from-behind upset win in opposition to CALABARZON within the semifinals of 2025 Palarong Pambansa secondary boys basketball on Thursday on the Ilocos Norte Centennial Area.
The 15-year-old guard powered Western Visayas’ 18-9 closing run as they erased a deficit as massive as 18 to enter the finals in opposition to Davao with the gold medal match set on Friday.
CALABARZON, represented by San Beda College-Rizal, stretched its 50-42 halftime result in a 58-48 cushion behind Purple Cubs star Andrei Ugaddan.
However Western Visayas, still on a high after dethroning National Capital Region in the quarterfinals, slowly crawled their method again behind the new palms of Rose.
Down 64-62, Western Visayas took benefit of Ugaddan’s absence after the NCAA standout rode the bench following cramps with 4:06 to go within the third. Rose unleashed a private 5-0 run capped by a buzzer-beating three-pointer to offer Western Visayas its first lead of the sport at 67-64 earlier than heading to the payoff interval.
Macadangdang sank a pair of jumpers to make it a 75-65 benefit for WVRAA, earlier than Ugaddan returned and fueled a determined comeback try with six straight factors as CALABARZON pulled inside seven, 78-71, within the remaining 3:59.
CALABARZON, nonetheless, couldn’t full the magic trick as Western Visayas took down one other powerhouse en path to the finals stage.
Within the first sport, Davao escaped Central Luzon with a nail-biting 66-65 victory.
—JKC, GMA Built-in Information