Gilas U18 wins; women tumble

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas saw contrasting results for its women’s team and men’s youth squad in major international campaigns.

The Gilas Women started like a house on fire but lost spark and conceded a 58-61 loss to host Mexico in the opener of the FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Guadalajara.

For its part, Gilas men’s youth posted a winning result against Thailand, 91-62, in the FIBA U18 Asia Cup in Ahmedabad, India to advance to the qualification to the quarterfinal round.

The U18 cagers had to wake up from a listless first half that saw them trail by as many as 12, unleashing a fiery second-half performance to thwart the upset-conscious Thais and finish Group A at 2-1.

The young guns will face the third seeds from Group C for a place in the Last-8.

Unlike the Gilas boys, the cagebelles got in the groove early against the Mexicans in their Group B duel at Arena Astros. But they suddenly fired blanks and turned erratic.