Gilas Women settles for silver in 3X3 hoops

Sports

GILAS Pilipinas Women fell short in their gold-medal bid but nonetheless made history in 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

The Filipinas bowed to a hot-shooting Japan, 11-21, in their championship match on Friday, September 26, settling for silver medal in the women’s 3x3 basketball tournament of the quadrennial meet.

Though denied a gold medal, the team composed of Victoria Pasilang, Kacey Dela Rosa, Kennan Ka, and Amyah Espanol completed a historic run after it became the first Philippine squad to deliver a medal for the country since the 3x3 competition was introduced in the Games in 2018.

Gilas actually had the size advantage with Dela Rosa manning the paint but the host team stretched the floor with its outside shooting. Japan sank seven two-pointers in a scorching shooting performance that negated Gilas’ size advantage.

Dela Rosa led Gilas with six points, three rebounds, and three blocks.

Yuki Hirashita and Sakura Horuichi each hit three shots from beyond the arc to lead Japan.

In the men’s competition, Gilas Men bowed to Iran in their bronze-medal match, 10-21.

The team of Koji Buenaflor, Nic Cabañero, David Dungo, and Luis Pablo had a promising start but faltered at the finish to go home without a medal.(CCM)