RP belles off to hot start, trip Thai five

MEDAN, Indonesia – The Xtreme RP team bucked the odds and pulled the rug from under the fancied Thailand squad, 74-67, at the start of the 19th FIBA Asia Under-18 ladies championship Sunday at the Angkasa Lanud Hall here.

The RP belles, whose campaign is backed by Xtreme Magic Sing, cut the taller Thais down to size with their quickness and defense as they battled back from 10 points down to fashion out the come-from-behind victory.

“I was scared of the Thais’ tremendous height advantage but we were able to offset this and pull through,” said RP team head coach Raymond Celis.

“I know that the Thais would collapse in the fourth quarter,” said assistant coach Joey Mendoza, noting that the Thai bench was not as deep as they thought it to be.

The RP ladies next play Hong Kong at 1 p.m. today.

Fria Bernardo overcame the tough-defending Thais to fire a team-high 20 points while skipper Kat Sandel and Cindy Resultay added 15 and 10 points, respectively.

The Filipinas rallied from an early 10-point deficit and outmaneuvered the Thais at the finish to snatch the victory that augured well for the RP team’s bid to get into the Level I play.

The team needs to finish in the top two in this Level II competition to get a crack at Level I which features China, South Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and India.

Thailand is a Southeast Asian women’s cage power which had stints in Level I play.

But the RP belles, playing on sheer guts and big fighting heart, pulled off the shock win over the Thais.

“Even if they led most of the time in the first half, I was never nervous or pressured. I felt we would prevail in the end,” said Raiza Palmera.