The future of Philippine women's basketball is in safe hands in the likes of Naomi Panganiban and Gabriella Ramos, as far as Gilas Pilipinas Women U18 coach Julie Amos is concerned.
Gilas Pilipinas Woman U18 head coach Julie Amos likes what she sees so far.
Two commanding wins and the young Filipinas are off to the FIBA Under-18 Women’s Asian Cup Division B semifinal round.
Gilas Pilipinas Women U18 continued their dominating start to the tournament, pouncing Lebanon, 89-63, and securing a semifinal ticket in Division B.
Naomi Panganiban put up a brilliant outing of 25 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists to led her team to clinching the no. 1 seed of the three-team Group B with a clean 2-0 card.
Gabriella Ramos pulled up a monster double-double outing of 12 points and 19 rebounds as Tifanny Reyes chipped in 12 markers, all from three-point range, in the game where the Nationals led by as many as 29 points.
With their stellar outing so far, Amos marveled at the squad’s team effort in securing the win, pouring nothing but high praises for Ramos and Panganiban, who she said are “paving the way for the next generation of Filipino women in basketball.”
"All of our players are unselfish, they attack, look for one open person and then rotate, nobody wants to score they want to attack for their teammates to score, and that's one thing we enjoy especially when our shoots are sinking, like all those threes at the end," Coach Amos said to FIBA.
"Players like Naomi (Panganiban) and Gabriella (Ramos), are two very special players, but so is the entire team."
The Philippines now await for opponents in the penultimate phase set on June 29, which the crew will know during the qualification to semis featuring the second and third seeds of both groups. The said round is scheduled for the 28th.
Defense once again played a major role in the pool sweep as the Filipina dribblers collected 20 steals — that, after racking 35 against Maldives.
Meanwhile, Maygen Naassan led the way for Lebanon with 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists in the defeat that dropped their card to 1-1.
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All eyes on the prize to secure the promotion to Division A.