Gilas girls pocket bronze

MANILA, Philippines — After missing out on a chance for Division A promotion, the Gilas Pilipinas girls vented their ire on Samoa, 84-68, to claim the bronze medal in the Division B play of the 2022 FIBA U18 Women’s Asian Championship yesterday at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium in Bangalore, India.

Gilas absorbed a stinging 66-65 overtime loss to Malaysia in the semifinals to fall out of contention but poured everything out versus the Samoans with UC San Diego-commit Sumayah Sugapong leading the way.

Sugapong uncorked 27 points, six boards, two assists and nine steals as the Nationals erased a 31-41 deficit at the break by launching a 28-8 avalanche in the third.

Louna Ozar (15), Kristan Yumul (14), Ashley Loon (11) and Kate Bobadilla (10) chipped in help in Gilas’ balanced attack en route to another podium finish in the Asian youth competition.

Gilas achieved the same feat in the U16 Division B play where it also fell out of Division A race with a tough loss to eventual champion Samoa.