Gilas Pilipinas Youth will have a busy slate in the next few weeks as both the boys and girls teams are set to compete in their respective FIBA Under-18 Asian Championships.
Josh Reyes will be handling the boys’ squad while Patrick Aquino will supervise the girls’ team.
Gilas Boys will be competing from August 21 to 28 in Tehran, Iran while the girls’ team will head to Bangalore, India for the Division B meet.
On Tuesday’s edition of the Philippine Sportswriters Association forum, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas spokesperson Sonny Barrios bared the pool for both teams.
Lasallians Fill Boys Under-18 Team
Gilas Boys will feature a lot of Lasallians in the lineup, namely La Salle freshmen and commits EJ Abadam and Mur Alao; and La Salle Greenhills and Zobel standouts Ethan Alian, Luis Pablo, Seven Gagate, LA Andres, and Joshua Coronel.
Also part of the pool are Kyle Gamber (Polytech), Mason Amos (Ateneo), Kobe Demisana (UPIS), James Nacua (San Beda) and Ramon Salvoro (Sacred Heart-Cebu).
According to Reyes, still part of the pool are Jared Bahay, Xavier Chio, Kristian Porter, and Nathan Victoria.
Also competing in the Under-18 Asian Championship are Australia, China, Chinese-Taipei, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Lebanon, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.
Four Under-19 World Cup slots are up for grabs in the tournament.
Yumul Back for Gilas Girls Under-18 Squad
Meanwhile, three players from the Under-16 team have been called up so far by Patrick Aquino to form the Under-18 squad.
Set to return to national team duties are Kristan Yumul, Camille Nolasco, and BJ Villarin.
The rest of the team are newcomers, namely Kalynee Abraham, Sumaya Sugapo, Ashley Loon, Louba Ozar, Hope Manglal-lan, Sydney Heyn, Ryhanna Calvert, Candice Udal, and Kate Bobadilla.
Aquino is still looking to add to the pool as the tournament is still a month away.
Only one Division A slot is at stake in the continental meet.
