RP belles down Indons, earn shot at Level I

MEDAN, Indonesia – The Xtreme RP team clobbered host Indonesia, 83-68, Saturday to grab the Level II silver medal in the 19th FIBA-Asia Under-18 ladies championship for a crack at a slot in the elite division in the next edition of the biennial regional meet.

The RP belles, backed by Xtreme Magic Sing, were to play Level I fifth placer Malaysia yesterday in a playoff determining whether the Philippines would stay in Level II or be promoted to the elite group in 2010.

The RP girls bucked the odds to place second to Kazakhstan in Level II and eighth overall counting Level I teams China, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and India. It’s the best finish by the country in the tourney since it placed third out of only four entries in the fifth edition of this competition in 1978 in Manila.

Perennial champion China and Japan were to fight for the crown, also yesterday.

Raiza Rose Palmera scored a game-high 22 points while Kat Sandel dished out a double-double performance with 19 points and 17 rebounds to lead the RP girls to the victory for a closing 4-1 (win-loss) record.

Kazakhstan completed a five-game sweep for the Level II gold medal and also a playoff shot at the elite group against India. Thailand came in third with a 3-2 slate followed by Indonesia (2-3), Hong Kong (1-4) and Singapore (0-5).