The Philippines bore the fruits of its grassroots basketball development program as its Under 18 team emerged champions in the first-ever FIBA-Asia 3×3 U18 Championship for Boys and Girls last Friday in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Nationals, composed of Ateneo standout Thirdy Ravena— the younger brother of Blue Eagle ace Kiefer, La Salle Greenhills’ Kobe Paras and Prince Rivero, and San Beda’s Arvin Tolentino, beat India, 21-19, in the finals to wrest the gold medal.
The road to the top wasn’t an easy one for the Philippines. It lost its first game in Group B to Qatar, 14-17, but defeated Chinese Taipei (20-18), Syria (17-13) and Indonesia (20-13) to top the group with a 3-1 (win-loss) record.
The Philippines also had to survive a late scare against Japan before ousting the Japanese in the quarterfinals, 21-18.
The Nationals then faced their toughest foe in the semis, a China squad that boasted of an average height of six- foot-six inches, with its tallest player standing six-foot-eight.
But the Philippines pulled the tough victory with a 22-18 decider to advance to the finals.
All in all, the Philippine team finished its campaign with a 6-1 record.
The Philippines’ girls’ team, on the other hand, lost, 10-14, to Thailand in the quarterfinals to miss out on the medal round.
The girls team is composed of Nicole Maria Imelda Cancio, Afril Bernardino, Alyanna Sabrina Ong and Jack Danielle Animam.