Ella Fajardo immediately became Philippine basketball's sweetheart after she played in three major tournaments over the past year.

Now her younger sister, Ava, is also hoping to endear herself with Filipino fans when she joins the Gilas Pilipinas under-16 team that will compete in the FIBA Under-16 Women's Asian Championship in Amman, Jordan on 10 to 16 July.

Gilas women's coach Patrick Aquino believes that the younger Fajardo has what it takes to match or even surpass the accomplishments of her elder sister who became the darling of the Filipino crowd in the recent Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia and the FIBA Women's Asia Cup in Sydney, Australia.

The elder Fajardo was among the key players of Gilas' silver-medal finish in the SEA Games and the sixth-place finish of the team in the FIBA Women's Asia Cup — the highest-placed finish of the squad since qualifying in the Division A of the tournament.

Aquino said Ava is a taller version of Ella, though similarly built. They both have a big fighting spirit, according to the mentor.

Ava played for Gill St. Bernard girls basketball team and is considered as the top prospect in the under-16 squad.

"She's a fighter, like Ella," Aquino told Daily Tribune in a telephone interview.

"But she's the slightly taller version, but if there's one advantage of Ava on Ella, Ava  started on the five-on-five while Ella began in the 3×3, so the transition on Ava is faster once she moves up from the age-group to the women's team in the years to come."

Basketball is in the blood of the Fajardo family.

Their father Allan was a member of the four-peat champion team University of Santo Tomas in the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines.

Ava will lead the aspirants of the under-16 Gilas squad along with several other candidates trying to fight out for a roster spot.

Other prospects include several Filipino-American players like Kimi Sayson, Sophia Candido, Ariel dela O, Naima Navarro and Ryan Kelly Nair.

Sayson played for the Long Branch Girls basketball team last year while Dela O saw action Freedom High Basketball.