Gilas Pilipinas came out sharper and played with more fluidity in dumping a hapless Maldives side late Tuesday night in the FIBA U16 Women’s Asian Championship at the Prinze Hamza Hall in Amman, Jordan.
The young Filipinas beat soundly their counterparts from Maldives by 122 points, 144-22, as the team posted a record of sorts in the under-16 women’s tournament.
A total of 10 players ended up in double figures for the Philippines with Sophia Anne Dominique Canindo emerging as the most efficient performer on top of leading the onslaught of the young cagebelles.
Canindo completed a double-double performance with 21 points and a record 12 steals on top of six assists as she led the Filipinas’ onslaught in taking their second win and booking a seat in the next round.
Also posting a double-double performance was Ariel dela O, who scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Philippines clobbered Maldives in offensive rebounding, 32-2, resulting to 28 second-chance points as against none for its counterpart.
Nevaeh Smith and Christina Aubrey Lapasaran each had 16 points, Ava Fajardo contributed 15, Kimi Sayson, Ryan Nair and Isabella Rose de Jesus had 13 apiece, Allysa Palma chipped in 11 and Scarlett Mercado tallied 10 for the Gilas squad, which battles host Jordan in its last group stage match and try to wrap up its elimination round schedule.
Gilas Pilipinas U16 squad is looking to get elevated to Division A, which will allow the Philippines to compete and join the top-tier teams in the region while getting an opportunity of playing among the elites in the 2025 edition of this tournament.
Last year, the Philippines came so close to getting promoted to Division A, but lost to eventual Division B champion Samoa in the semifinal round.
With the way the team is playing this season, Gilas coach Patrick Aquino and his troops are confident that they can make it all the way.
Jordan, which is coming off a 67-64 loss to Hong Kong, will face the Philippines at 12:30 a.m. Thursday (Manila time).
