Reyes, Gilas break Korean hearts

Tiffany Reyes celebrated her 15th birthday in style, knocking down the buzzer-beater to give Gilas Pilipinas Girls a 77-75 victory over South Korea in the FIBA U16 Women’s Asia Cup on Wednesday at the Arena Seremban in Malaysia.

The Sycamore High School guard scored eight of her 16 points in the fourth quarter, including the dagger that snapped the Philippines’ two-game losing streak in this prestigious U16 competition.

The Philippines bullied its way to the win with 44 points inside the paint while also scoring 18 points off the bench.

Ella Smith led the Philippines with 21 points and seven rebounds while Ruiza Jhane Olmos had 12 points and seven boards for the Philippines.

Lim Seun had 31 points for South Korea, which got relegated to the classification round after losing all three of their games in Group A.

With a 1-2 win-loss record in Group A, the Gilas Girls are off to the playoff round on Friday.

The Philippines is waiting to see which country it will face as of press time.

Should the Gilas Girls win in the playoff round, they will take on Australia in the semifinal on Saturday for a possible rematch.

The Philippines hopes to get back at the Australians after absorbing a sorry 42-123 loss in the group stage last Tuesday.