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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Aguilar rekindles rivalry with Fajardo in Ginebra-SMB semis clash

Aguilar rekindles rivalry with Fajardo in Ginebra-SMB semis clash

Published Jun 23, 2025 02:06 pm

At A Glance

  • Barangay Ginebra's Japeth Aguilar, after outplaying the Converge twin-towers of Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar, will face long-time friend and rival June Mar Fajardo in the semifinals as a reward.
By ANGELO CAPARAS
Intern
Barangay Ginebra’s Japeth Aguilar, after outplaying the Converge twin-towers of Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar, will face long-time friend and rival June Mar Fajardo in the semifinals as a reward.
And it was no ordinary task as Fajardo is once again in the running for the Best Player of the Conference award and Aguilar will have the daunting challenge at limiting him in their best-of-7 semifinals series which begins on Wednesday, June 25.
“I can’t explain how hard playing against June Mar is. He is amazing—running for Best Player of the Conference again, carrying his team. It’s gonna be tough, pero it’s always a collective effort. I gotta do my role, I gotta do my job, and it’s all teamwork,” Aguilar said of his looming clash with Fajardo.
But it doesn’t look like the lanky 6-foot-9 center is entering their semis matchup unprepared especially after he managed to hold the paint against the league’s two rising big men in Arana and Baltazar during the Kings’ 88-80 quarterfinals win against the Converge FiberXers.
Aguilar even had a standout 19 points and 13 rebounds – reminiscent of his dominant performance during eliminations clash where he also outplayed the two.
After being limited to just 22 points combined in their May 10 showdown, the FiberXers’ twin towers Baltazar and Arana once again struggled to assert themselves in the paint and were held to just eight and seven rebounds, respectively.
But head coach Tim Cone, knew full well that things are not going to get easier for Aguilar nor for Ginebra.
“It doesn’t get any easier for Japeth. It doesn’t get any easier for us. Again, we know how great San Miguel is. We know we have to get through them to get a chance to win a championship,” said Cone.
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