By REYNALD MAGALLON
The Gilas Pilipinas Women’s team came out unscathed in its first two games to get a shot at advancing into the main draw of the 2024 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup on Wednesday, March 27 at the Singapore Sports Hub.
Mikka Cacho and Jhazmin Joson took turns in leading the Filipinas to a perfect 2-0 slate after they clobbered Tahiti, 21-3 in the opening game before shrugging off a tough Maldives stand, 19-11 in the second game.
Gilas now holds the top spot in the Qualifying Draw group B along with fellow spotless team Kazakhstan. The Nationals face the Kazakhs on Thursday, March 28, with the winner advancing to the main draw Pool C where third seed Mongolia and sixth seed Malaysia await.
The Filipinas had to shake off some jitters before going on a huge run to open the tournament with a dominant win. With five minutes already gone by and Tahiti sticking close, 5-3, Joson drained a booming deuce that opened the floodgates for the Filipinas.
Cacho then punished the defenders on her drives, anchoring the team’s back-breaking 16-0 run. Joson, who caught fire from deep with four deuces, capped the run with back-to-back two-point bombs ended the contest with 22.6 left.
Unlike in its opening game, the Filipinas went off to a hot start and then fended off the tough stand of Maldives in its second and last assignment for the day.
Gilas executed its pick-and-roll to perfection as Cacho again led the charge for the Filipinas who built an early 6-1 lead. The Nationals erected a 12-5 advantage before Maldives showed some semblance of fight cutting the lead down to just three, 12-9.
Back-to-back baskets from Cacho however easily restored order as Gilas ended the game on a 7-2 finishing kick.
