Gilas belles sizzle, blast HK rivals in FIBA Asia U16

Gilas Pilipinas made short work of Hong Kong counterpart, 79-40, and served a strong notice of its aspirations of moving it to the next level of the FIBA U16 Women's Asian Championship Division B at the Prince Hamza Sports Hall in Amman, Jordan, late Monday  night (Manila time).

As expected, Ava Fajardo, younger sister of Gilas Pilipinas women's team sensation Ella Fajardo, led the way for the young cagebelles with 17 points to go along with six rebounds and completed four steals.

Fajardo's all-around performance also made her the most efficient player in the match as she piled up a +22 in efficiency rating.

Two other Gilas players ended up in double figures — Ryan Nair (12) and Allysa Palma (10) — as the Philippines made its presence felt early, racing to a quick 10-0 run, but allowed Hong Kong to catch up.

But things changed quickly bridging the second and  third periods when the young Filipinas turned the heat and outscored their rivals, 41-17, and took the fight out of Hong Kong.

The Filipinas returned to action on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. when they battle Maldives.

Gilas are looking of getting promoted to Division A where they will have a chance to compete against the powerhouse teams in the Asian region in the 2025 edition of this event.