By REYNALD MAGALLON
The Gilas Pilipinas girls team opened its bid for a Division A promotion in style, dominating Hong Kong, 79-40, for a rousing start in the FIBA U16 Women’s Asian Championship at the Prince Hamza Hall in Amman, Jordan on Monday, July 10.
Suffocating on the defensive end with their ball pressure and relentless on the other with the fast paced attacks, the Filipinas easily controlled the contest and built a lead that went to as high as 41 points.
The two holdovers from the previous U16 team, as expected, led the way for the Filipinas with Ava Fajardo, the younger sister of Gilas seniors team guard Ella, dropping 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field.
The other, Ryan Kelly Nair, chipped in 12 points while newcomers Alyssia Palma added 10 and Ariel Star De La O posted seven points and 12 rebounds.
Fancied as one of the favorites in the competition, Gilas had an early show of force with a 10-0 rally.
There was a bit of resistance from Hong Kong when it cut the lead down to just four, 15-11 late in the first quarter but that was practically it for them.
The Nationals then went on to clamp down on the defensive end, limiting their opponents to single digit scoring in the middle quarters while they breached the 20-point marks in all of the last three quarters to essay the rout.
Tsz Ching Kam paced Hong Kong with 14 points while Yan Ting Tai added 11 markers and 10 rebounds in a losing effort.
Up next for Gilas is Maldives on Tuesday night, July 11 (Manila time) as the Filipinas gun for one of the top two spots in Group A to advance to the knockout rounds.
