MANILA – The Philippines swept the girls basketball to take home the gold medal in the 2018 ASEAN School Games in Malaysia.
Led by Negrense Kent Jane Pastrana and Ilongga Karl Ann Pingol, the Filipina players nipped Thailand 71-69 on Tuesday in the House of Champions stadium in Gem In Mall Cyberjaya.
They swept the games after an 80-42 victory over Singapore early Wednesday. Earlier, they scored lopsided wins over Indonesia (91-44) and Malaysia (80-58).
“We prepared for two months for this tournament. Last year we had only two weeks to prepare,” said assistant coach Denden Velez, a native of Silay City, Negros Occidental.
On the other hand the boys basketball team, comprising National University Bullpups players, moved closer to the gold medal after drubbing Thailand 106-71 on Tuesday.
Cyril Gonzales led the Philippines with 26 points while Bacolodnon recruit Harold Alarcon and Carl Tamayo added 16 and 15 points, respectively. The Filipinos will face Malaysia in the finals.
The Philippines raked in two more gold medals, with Eliza Antonio Cuyom ruling the girls 100m hurdles and Jann Mari Nayre capturing the boys table tennis singles title.
But it dropped to sixth place in the medal tally with seven gold, six silver and 14 bronze medals behind Malaysia (30-26-25), Indonesia (24-28-25), Thailand (15-18-26), Vietnam (13-8-6), and Singapore (10-12-13)./PN
