BY REYNALD MAGALLON
The Gilas Pilipinas girls team pulled away late and dispatched a stubborn Samoa side, 71-47, to reach the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup Division B Finals on Saturday, June 29 at the Futian Sports Park in Shenzhen, China.
Struggling to open quarters strong through the first three frames, the Filipinas finally broke out of the slump and turned in a massive 16-2 start in the final frame to finally shake off the hard-fighting Samoans and move one win away from earning the long coveted Division A promotion.
Ava Fajardo led the way for Gilas with 19 points built on three triples while Naomi Panganiban backstopped her with 12 points, five rebounds and four steals.
Alicia Villanueva also chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds while Sophia Canindo was a spark off the bench with 11 points, six rebounds and four steals.
Gabby Ramos also held the fort inside the paint with nine points, eight rebounds, five steals and a block for the Filipinas who already bettered their third place finish in the last edition of the tournament in 2022.
Gilas now awaits the winner of the other semifinal pairing between Lebanon and Iran to determine their final opponent.
The Filipinas, who swept the group stage with a perfect 2-0 record, opened the contest ice-cold with only three points on the board through the first six minutes.
Good thing, their defense also held on and limited Samoa to three points as well before going on a 14-2 closeout to take a double-digit spread, 17-5 at the end of the first frame.
Gilas then had to overcome some tense moments in the second quarter as another slow start for the Filipinas allowed Samoa to come within four, 25-21 before they somehow regained footing to keep a 31-23 lead at the break.
Samoa threatened once more early in the third frame, cutting the lead down to just five, 34-39 before key hits from Villanueva, Panganiban and Fajardo kept their opponents at bay.
Gilas never let Samoa come close from thereon as the lead ballooned to as many as 26 points, 71-45 with 1:39 left in the game.
