Talk ‘N Text and Barangay Ginebra, powerhouses both, dispatched of their respective lower-ranked foes with eerie similarities on Friday night and sealed a KO match against each other.

The Tropang Texters and the Gin Kings both broke away in the second quarter to plaster Barako Bull and Globalport, respectively at the Ynares Center here, and march into the second phase of the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals where they will go for each other’s throats.

Talk ‘N Text used a 12-0 blitz to take the fight out of the Energy and post a 105-76 victory, while the Gin Kings dropped a crippling 16-0 bomb to break free from a 33-all game and end the Batang Pier’s tournament with a win.

The only difference in their triumphs was how loud the coliseum was.

Or, in the case of the Tropang Texters, how quiet their victory happened.

When the Kings took the floor for the main game at prime time, the crowd got so loud that the game took on the atmosphere of a championship match as Ginebra, like it always does, played to the crowd and kept its foot on the pedal even after taking a 49-33 lead.

Talk ‘N Text simply packed too much firepower for the Energy to match and the Texters played with a lot of intensity starting from the second quarter when they employed an unforgiving full court press that frazzled Barako Bull.

“There’s this mentality of the players to relax,” Talk ‘N Text coach Jong Uichico said as he explained why his Texters were just 23-19 up at the end of the first quarter.

“They picked up their energy level in the second period,” Uichico continued. “There’s another game we have to think of. Our defense (the man-to-man they employed against the Energy) depends on who our opponent will be.”

From a 29-all count, the Texters scooted away by 12 and led by as large as 35 late in the fourth, sending the Energy to a really bad holiday break along with NLEX and defending champion Purefoods.

The Road Warriors got the boot from No. 3 Alaska on Thursday, while the Star Hotshots saw their reign end after taking a thorough beating at the hands of Meralco also on Thursday.

The Bolts and the Aces clash Sunday for a place in the Final Four opposite Rain or Shine in a one-game playoff.

Ginebra and Talk ‘N Text play their do-or-die game on Tuesday with the winner advancing opposite tournament No. 1 San Miguel Beer.

Both semifinal series are scheduled best-of-seven affairs starting Thursday.

Ginebra used its enormous advantage in size to the hilt and the Batang Pier weren’t able to flash even a semblance of the form that allowed them to rout the Gin Kings by 21 points just last week.

Globalport was obviously a far different team than the one that pounded out a 98-77 triumph over the Kings as Alex Cabagnot is no longer with the squad after the Batang Pier surprisingly traded him to San Miguel Beer for Sol Mercado.

Cabagnot was the most consistent player for the Batang Pier, who played without their leader for the first time in the tournament, which Ginebra was only too glad to take advantage of.

“I think they’re a far different team without Cabagnot,” Ginebra coach Jeff Cariaso said when asked of the key to the lopsided win. “One day to prepare and lose a guy like Alex is hard. But it (Globalport) is still a very tough, young team.”

“We are going to see a really tough team on Tuesday (when we play Talk ‘N Text),” Cariaso continued. “Talk ‘N Text is a very good team in terms of understanding what they do.”

Japeth Aguilar had 19 points, seven rebounds and six blocks to lead the Kings, who led by as many as 22 late in the third after five straight points from LA Tenorio.

Stanley Pringle, the year’s top rookie pick, scattered 26 points, with Terrence Romeo shooting 21. Romeo had 12 of his total in the first period, which the Batang Pier took 23-15.