MEDAN, Indonesia?A bigger Kazakhstan squad put an end to the Xtreme-RP team?s romp via a 71-68 victory Friday in the 19th Fiba Asia under-18 ladies championship at Gor Angsapura.

The Filipino girls tried to make up for their lack of size with unyielding scrappiness, holding down Kazakhstan to a see-saw battle only to fizzle out in the end.

?They completely dominated the shaded area,? said RP coach Raymond Celis. ?They were just too big for us.?

The defeat kept the Philippines from an outright playoff shot at promotion to Level I play in this biennial Asian joust divided into two divisions.

But all is not lost for the RP lasses. With a 3-1 win-loss card, they can still book a playoff ticket for a crack at promotion when they take on host Indonesia next.

?Despite our severe height and heft disadvantage, we fought neck and neck with them,? said 5-foot-5 guard Soc Borja, who limited prolific Kazakh scorer Tamara Seregina to 12 points. ?We just fell short in the end.?

?We blew several opportunities to tie or take the lead in the last two minutes of the game,? said sweet-shooting forward Raiza Palmera.

?We fought so hard and we could have won,? she added.

RP delegation head Perry Martinez, however, urged the girls to move on, saying they have to stay focused in their game against Indonesia.