There were no tears shed by Gilas Women even after falling to New Zealand on Friday.
The loss relegated the Philippines to the battle of fifth game in the 2023 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup and ended the country’s hopes of making it to the Paris Olympics.
Still, the Filipinas held their head up high when they took center-court at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre.
After all, the 42nd-ranked Gilas team gave the 29th-best team in the world a run for its money.
“Well, we just fell short. It was a good game for us. We competed,” said long-time Gilas head coach Patrick Aquino after the 78-83 loss.
“We can now say that we can compete with the best of the best in Asia. Hopefully, when we come back, we will be stronger. Just want to say that I’m proud of the girls, they did really.”
Coming into the continental meet, the Philippines was ranked last among eight nations.
After all, towers like Clare Castro and Kacey Dela Rosa were unavailable for the tournament.
A crushing 105-34 loss to host Australia proved the pundits right.
But apparently, the 12 players representing the ‘Three Stars and the Sun’ did not get the memo.
The Philippines put up a gallant stand for three quarters against defending champion Japan heading to the close-out game against Chinese-Taipei.
Against the Taiwanese — a team that has romped the Philippines over the past three cycles of the tournament, Gilas came out swinging, eventually taking a 92-81 win to avoid the relegation tilt for the first time in program history.
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“Our goal was really to compete and show that we belong. The win against Chinese-Taipei is what we needed. I hope that it’s not the last,” Aquino recalled.
“We will continue to work harder and achieve those goals.”
Pesky was Gilas during the play-in game.
For three quarters, Gilas had all the answers against the Tall Ferns, even leading 69-68 heading into the last 10 minutes of regulation.
However, Philippine aces Afril Bernardino and Jack Animam picked up their fourth foul in the last four minutes of the game, forcing Aquino to sit them out.
The Tall Ferns took advantage of this, zooming to a lead it never relinquished.
“Probably, the composure was getting low at the time. I think we made a lot of crucial errors. We made a lot of fouls, giving up 27 free throws. That’s a big disparity for us,” he lamented.
“We did that to ourselves. If we played composed, the game would have been different.”
Animam and Bernardino combined for 29 points and 19 rebounds while Jhazmin Joson compensated for the struggles of Vanessa De Jesus, dropping her national team-high of 15 points in the game.
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“I’m just proud of my teammates. They did their best to compete,” said Bernardino, one of the finest players produced by the country.
“We proved that we can compete against bigger opponents.”
The Philippines will still take on either South Korea or Australia on Saturday.
And by the time they get home early next week, Aquino hopes that they have done their job which is to inspire a new generation of women ballers in the country.
“It’s a giant step for us. Hopefully, we can do better and prepare more. I feel that with this performance, I think more kids back home will be following us and aiming to be part of Gilas Women.”
