INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine U-18 national team bucked a shaky start to blow out Jordan, 85-60, in Group B play and kick off its Fiba Asia Championship campaign on a rousing note Wednesday at the Gharafa Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
The Batang Gilas Pilipinas held a slim 14-13 edge over Jordan in the first 10 minutes of the game before breaking the game open in the second quarter to lead, 44-26, and never looked back.
“I think we were selfish in the first quarter,” said head coach Jamike Jarin in a post-game interview posted on fibaasia.net.
“I just allowed them to make their mistakes and settle down on their own.”
And when the young Nationals did, Jordan couldn’t do anything much to stop them.
Josh Caracut sparked a second-quarter run by the Philippines scoring nine of his 11 points in that pivotal period where Batang Gilas outpointed the Jordanians, 30-13.
Radge Tongo led the Filipinos, who took a 72-39 advantage after three quarters, with 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field but had seven turnovers. Caracut also collected six assists, three rebounds and three steals.
Jordan out-rebounded the Philippines, 57-42, but Batang Gilas made up for it with 18 fastbreak points as compared to the Jordanians zero.
The Filipinos also moved the ball well as they assisted on 25 out of their 34 baskets.
The Philippines takes on a tough Korea side next on Thursday.
Jarin also coached the PH U17 team which finished 15th recently in Dubai.
The tournament stakes three slots for the Fiba U19 World Championship in Greece next year.
The highly-touted Kobe Paras also made his presence felt with six points, nine rebounds, two assists and three steals.
“I gave him (Paras) the minutes and wanted him to avoid the fourth foul. I think he handled the situation well,” said Jarin.
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