Gilas Women settle for silver

Gilas Pilipinas got torched by host Japan’s long-range shooting and settled for silver in an 11-21 dismantling in the final of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games women’s 3x3 basketball on Friday at the Kinjo Futo Station Square Venue.

Japan swished in seven two-pointers, including the game-winning outside bomb by Yuki Hirashita to seal the golden finish with 31.2 seconds left on the clock.

Kacey dela Rosa did the heavy lifting on offense, scoring six points with KA Kennan and Amyah Espanol limited to just three and two points, respectively, for the Filipinas. Maria Pasilang went scoreless as Gilas Women missed all five of their two-point attempts.

Sakura Horiuchi shattered a 2-2 deadlock with a personal 5-1 run off a drive and a pair of two-pointers.

Dela Rosa trimmed Gilas’ deficit to three, 7-4, with six minutes left but a Hirashita two-pointer ignited another 4-1 blitz that widened Japan’s cushion to six.

The Japanese scored eight of its last nine points on two-pointers.

Despite the loss, it was still a great run for Gilas Women in their first Asiad appearance. The Pinay hoopers defeated Thailand, 13-8, in the semifinal.

Hirashita had nine points and Horiuchi got eight points for Japan, which beat Korea, 19-8, in the semis.

Korea bagged bronze after a 21-8 whipping of Thailand.

Meanwhile, Gilas fell short of salvaging a podium finish in the men’s division after a sorry 10-21 loss to Iran in the battle for bronze.

The Philippine squad, composed of Nic Cabanero, Do Dungo, Luis Pablo and Koji Buenaflor, ended its campaign with back-to-back losses, including a 9-21 beating in the semifinal at the hands of South Korea earlier in the day.

Against the Iranians, Gilas kept it close early in the match.

Iran, however, broke away from a 14-10 lead with a closing 7-0 barrage to take third place and send Gilas home empty-handed.

In the semis, Gilas was buried, 0-5, to start the match and had no chance of getting out of a deep hole.