AFTER an eventful home World Cup for the men's seniors team, it will be Gilas Youth team's turn to take center stage in the global showpiece.
Gilas Youth qualifies for 2024 Fiba U17 World Cup
For only the third time since 2014, Batang Gilas has qualified for the Fiba U17 Basketball World Cup after a spirited 64-59 comeback win over Japan at the 2023 Fiba Asia U16 Cup quarterfinals on Friday in Doha, Qatar.
The Philippines, coached by Josh Reyes, now joins China, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Guinea, Egypt, and host nation Turkey in the Fiba U17 World Cup.
As soon as the final buzzer sounded, emotions ran high for Kieffer Alas and the rest of the Gilas U16 crew in front of an ecstatic Filipino crowd in Doha.
Red-hot Alas leads Gilas U16 comeback
Alas shot the lights out with a near double-double of 29 points and nine boards in 32 minutes of play.
But from a team standpoint, it wasn't Gilas U16's best of nights offensively as shown by their nine-point output in the second frame and only six players scoring in the entire game.
Joaquin Ludovice (11 points), Kurt Velasquez (10 points), Bonn Daja (six points), and Cletz Amos and Elijah Williams (four points each) joined Alas in the scoresheets for a resurgent Batang Gilas side.
Alas & Co. overcame a slow first half and clawed their way back from a 10-point hole to slide past Japan at 46-45 just before the last ten minutes of play.
Ten lead changes later, everything fell into place as Gilas U16 swiftly held off a gutsy Japanese side to cap off a fierce fightback win.
The Philippines' dream run at the Fiba Asia U16 Cup continues with a heated semis clash against an oddly familiar foe in Australia on Saturday.
The scores:
Philippines (64) - Alas 29, Ludovice 11, Velasquez 10, Daja 6, Amos 4, Williams 4, Alegre 0, Chua 0, Daja 0, Diao 0, Gomez De Liano 0, Morales 0.
Japan (59) - Takata 12, Benedict 10, Sembo 10, Murakami 8, Nakamura 8, Shiratani 5, Honda 4, Wakano 2, Shingo 0, Takahashi 0, Kamihara DNP, Landrigan DNP.
Quarterscores: 16-16; 25-35; 46-45; 64-59.