Energen Phl five smothers Vietnam

NHA TRANG CITY, Vietnam – Energen Pilipinas primed up for the big battle with a 111-25 rout of host Vietnam late Thursday, completing its expected sweep of Group D in the Second FIBA-Asia Under-16 Championship at the Khanh Hoa Sports Center here.

The Nationals, who kicked off their campaign with a 93-30 demolition of the Indonesians Wednesday, proved unrelenting in offense and shackled the lowly Vietnamese with an unforgiving defense throughout to post the third highest winning margin in the tournament.

They play Qatar at the start of the second round Saturday following Friday’s rest day and will take on Saudi Arabia Sunday which they are both tipped to hurdle before clashing with fellow unbeaten team Japan on Monday in a showdown that will determine the top seed in the Group B.

Group A is composed of defending champion China (2-0), South Korea (2-0), Lebanon (1-1), India (1-1), Iraq (0-2) and Chinese Taipei (0-2).

“It’s hard to play teams where you really expect to win because you develop bad habits,” said Racela. “But it doesn’t matter who you play against, the important thing now is to play consistently in the second round.”

Fil-Aussie Jordan Heading, National U hotshot Prince Rivero and Reedley standout Jay Javelosa combined for 58 points in an impressive show of firepower which they hope to sustain against the fancied teams in the tournament which stakes a lone slot in next year’s FIBA U-17 World Championship in Lithuania.

Heading led all scorers with 22 points, including 10 in the first half when the Filipinos ripped the game apart while Rivero and Javelosa chipped in 20 and 16 points, respectively.

Isaac Go, the 6-6 slotman from Xavier, and Ateneo’s Tomas Ramos took care of the shaded lane and the boards that shut down the hosts to a paltry 14-point production in the last thee quarters.

“Our game plan is to give everyone the minutes with hopes of giving everyone enough confidence for tougher battles ahead,” said Racela.

“We’re also looking ahead and when the time comes that we face our toughest foes, we will start to go to our big guns,” he added.

The 86-point win was next to Lebanon’s 108-21 demolition of Uzbekistan on opening day and South Korea’s 120-29 annihilation of Uzbekistan Thursday.

The romp, however, could prove costly for the team as Kyles Lao, one of the team’s top point guards, suffered a sprained left ankle when he stepped on a foot of a Vietnam player.

“He stepped on someone’s foot and it was swollen after the game,” said Racela of Lao, who may miss a couple of games in the second round. “But he walked by his own after the game and we hope he’ll get better for our tougher games.”

While it was Heading and Rivero, who sparked the early breakaway, the 6-2 Javelosa took charge in the second half, scoring 11 of his total output.

FIBA-Asia U16 notes: The Nationals dedicated the victory to their team manager’s mom Ito Lopa, wife of Energen Pilipinas manager Joel who celebrated her 50th birthday yesterday with a hearty dinner at a Vietnam restaurant in the city...A small but loud group of Filipino fans brought a mascot of Jollibee, a popular fastfood chain back home which has a branch in this scenic, coastal city...Organizers are using live-stats but which proved to be inaccurate. One example is Heading, who was listed with just 17 points but actually scored 22 points in everyone’s count, including the team statisticians and the Filipino media.

The scores:

Philippines 111 – Heading 22, Rivero 20, Javelosa 16, Diputado 10, Dalafu 9, Asilum 9, Ramos 6, Caracut 5, Lao 4, Cani 4, Alejandro 4, Go 2.

Vietnam 25 – Hoang 5, Tran 5, Minh T.N. 4, Van 4, Duy T.N. 4, Duy M.D. 2, Ming G.P. 1, Duy T.D. 0, Vy 0, Thanh 0, Nguyen 0, Tien 0.

Quarterscores: 32-11; 69-17; 83-22; 111-25