BY ABBY TORALBA
THE Gilas Pilipinas Youth squad is expected to bring out all aces on its sleeves when it battles Korea today for a quarterfinals berth in the FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship at the Al-Rayyan Indoor Hall in Doha, Qatar.
Kieffer Alas and the rest of coach Josh Reyes’ clash with Korea in the knockout play-in phase at 12:30 p.m.
Gilas Youth finished Group D with a 2-1 card.
Before the knockout battle, the Philippines whipped Kazakhstan 66-42 and Malaysia two days ago 75-52 for back-to-back wins in the group phase.
Korea wrapped up its Group C run at third with a 1-2 slate.
Alas, who is averaging 17.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, along with Kurt Nathan Velasquez, Bonn Ervin Daja, Cletz David Amos and Elijah Mark Williams will be counted upon to deliver by Gilas Youth.
Korea will lean on Daniel Edi, Min Jae Kim, Ji Hoon Yoo, Tae In Kim and Woo Hyeok Yang.
The winner between the Philippines and Korea will take on Japan in the quarterfinals tomorrow, Saturday.
Aside from Japan, Australia, New Zealand and China have bagged Last Eight berths.
The Philippines needs to reach at least the semifinals to qualify for the FIBA U-17 Basketball World Cup next year in Turkey.
