By REYNALD MAGALLON
Just right where they should belong.
The Gilas Pilipinas girls team earned its long coveted promotion to the Division A following a perfect run in the FIBA U16 Women Asian Championship Division B, capped by a rousing 83-60 victory over Iran in the final in the wee hours of Monday, July 17 (Manila time).
Wild cheers from the Filipino fans which packed in the Prince Hamza Hall in Amman Jordan serenaded the girls at the final buzzer as Gilas is now finally set to join the continent’s elite teams in China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The win also completed a redemption tour of sorts for Gilas which fell short in the last edition despite being the favorite to win it.
This time, though, the Filipinas ensured that they will get the job done without any complications after sweeping the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record and an average winning margin of 51 points.
At the forefront of the attack for Gilas in the finale was Nevaeh Smith who finished with 21 points while Ava Fajardo backstopped her with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Ariel Star De La O also shone with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds while Alyssia Palma had 11 boards on top of her nine points.
As expected, Iran showed some resistance in the opening frame where it managed to keep in step with Gilas, only trailing by four, 15-19 at the end of the first 10 minutes of the contest.
The Filipinas, however, started ripping the game apart in the second frame where they clamped down on the defensive end to anchor a pivotal 15-0 run that all but broke the Iranians’ backs. When the dust settled, Gilas put up 22 points on the board while limiting Iran to just 11, enough to build a 41-16 lead at the break.
Iran showed some fight at the start of the second half but Gilas simply had answers to its every run and kept it at bay until the final buzzer.
Fatame Jafari and Helya Houdneh led Iran with 14 points apiece in a losing effort.
