SAN FERNANDO — Members of the Gilas Pilipinas U16 team had their first title. LA Tenorio had his first championship as national youth coach. And the home crowd thousands who braved an hours-long afternoon thunderstorm had a delirious moment to remember.
This after everything came together for the Philippines in the game that mattered most.
The predominantly Pampango fans made their presence felt early, chanting ‘Defense!” after Gilas playmaker Ethank Tan-Chi broke the ice by swishing a 3-pointer seconds into the game.
Everaigne Cruz followed with another triple and the Philippines was on its way to posting its biggest lead of the first half at 23 in the 70-40 annihilation of much-feared Indonesia Friday for the gold medal in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup SEABA Qualifiers at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center here.
Overall, the biggest advantage was 34 points.
The Gilas Youth dominated the battle underneath and the early lead allowed Tenorio to go leisurely deep into his roster, with the bench responding by sustaining what the starters began.
It was 21-5 after 10 minutes and 41-20 at the half, the initial trepidation at facing such a dangerous opponent which the Nationals narrowly beat in the preliminary round dissipating as quickly as the initial concern triggered by the heavy downpour.
Even Indonesia’s top player Benjamin Hernusi, who had 23 points in Gilas’ hard-earned 77-68 victory in their first meeting, found his usual routes to the basket choked as he was starved to eight points on 2 of 16 from the field, missing four of his five 3-point attempts.
“I think we played a way, way better defensive game from when we first met them,” said Tenorio. “Now we’re more ready. I told the players, ‘wala tayong bagong gagawin kundi yung ginagawa natin nang last two months sa praktis natin — tama, maayos, mas aggressive, di tayo magkakaproblema.’”
The first-time national youth coach, who gave his family a hug after the final, said that “personally, I’m happy, but I’m happier for the players. Para sa kanila ‘to.”
Preparing for the FIBA U16 Asia Cup, he said, will come later.
“Pag-uusapan pa namin,” said Tenorio, who got his victory ride from the team. “There’s the schedule of the players pa with their respective schools. That’s the challenge now. We’ll see.”
Named Most Valuable Player of the tournament was Gilas Youth forward Carl Gabriel De Los Reyes, while Vietnam’s Nguyen Hoang Minh Khang was presented with the Sportsmanship award.
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