inboundpass.com – Covering Philippine college basketball / UAAP, NCAA, PCC

It was Halloween night, and a friend and I were looking for a place to shoot the breeze somewhere in Ortigas Center when a booming voice called out my name. I turned to see that the voice belonged to Patrick Aquino, veteran high school coach and ex-UP player.

“We just had dinner with the team,” he said, flashing that characteristic smile of his that all but erased his chinky eyes. By “team” he was referring to the Philippine women’s (or girls’?) Under-16 basketball team, of which he is the coach.

While the Men’s Under-16 team of coach Eric Altamirano has been receiving ample media attention in their ongoing (as of this writing) quest for one of two Asian slots to the World Under-17 championships next year, I’ll bet you haven’t even heard of their female counterparts, who will carry the fight for the country in the first-ever FIBA-Asia Under-16 Women’s’ basketball tournament to be held from November 30 to December 6 in Pune, India.

This bunch of young ladies tasked to carry the fight for the Philippines include Danica Jose (daughter of ex-pro Bobby Jose and the tallest of the lot at 6’1”) and Kitkat Nitorreda from Miriam College, Trisha Piatos and Tara Araneta from Ateneo de Davao, Ginny Pioquinto from La Salle Antipolo, Jackie Tanaman from Far Eastern University, Lore Rivera from University of Sto. Tomas, Jonah Melendrez from Colegio San Agustin, Cheskie Tantoco from Poveda, Elrica Castro from Assumption Antipolo, Trisha Dy from Jubilee High School, and Kai Javier from Community of Learners Foundation.

Aquino and his coaching staff, composed of Julie Amos of UST and ex-Maroon Paul Du, started conducting try outs for Metro Manila last March. Over 150 aspirants showed up. They also scoured the countryside for other talents.

The team is sponsored by Careline, giving them the moniker Careline Pilipinas, with additional support coming from Mighty Sports. They practice every day at the Philsports Arena.

The girls are bracketed with powerhouse China, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, Hong Kong, and host India in Group A. Group B has Japan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

The top two teams from each bracket will advance to the crossover semifinal stage, where the winners will book tickets to the inaugural FIBA World Women’s Under-17 Championship to be held in July 2010 in France.

If you’ll notice, Middle Eastern countries like Iran and Jordan, which have made great strides in Asian men’s basketball over the last few years, are not participating. In fact, Iran and Jordan rarely form women’s youth teams. Iran’s only appearance in the under-18 tournament was in 1977, Jordan only showed up in 1996. This gives the Philippines a better chance of making gains not only in this tournament but in Asian women’s basketball in general. Lebanon, another rising Asian powerhouse, competes in the women’s division but opted not to field a team in the youth tournament.

Aquino is optimistic they can finish second in their bracket behind China. Since this is the inaugural women’s under-16 tournament, all countries started from scratch and no one has an advantage in terms of experience. “At this level, we can compete with other Asian countries because of the age group and the fact that this is the first under-16 tournament,” Aquino said. “Halos lahat nag-uumpisa pa lang din. I think maganda ang chances namin.”

In Pune, Aquino will rely on Jose, Piatos, Araneta, Melendrez, Tanaman, and Rivera. A top four finish will most probably ensure a Level I slot for the Philippines in future under-16 tournaments. FIBA-Asia women’s events are classified into Level I and Level II groups, with Level I being the gateway to the world group. But since this is the first-ever under-16 joust in the women’s division, organizers decided to do away with the Level I and Level II seedings and give everybody an equal chance of claiming one of the two slots to the worlds.

In the recent 23rd FIBA-Asia women’s tournament, the Philippines finished fourth in Level II, defeating Sri Lanka, Southeast Asian Games champion Malaysia, and Uzbekistan, and losing to Kazakhstan and Lebanon. In order for a team to advance from Level II to Level I, it must finish in the top two in their bracket and defeat one of the two bottom teams in Level I in a playoff.

Then again, I’m sure Aquino has much loftier goals for his bunch of fighting girls.

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