China recovers to down Japan
After beginning the game sluggishly, China gradually settled into a steady offensive rhythm, executing from both inside the paint and outside the three-point arc to recover from some early Japanese hurt and surge to a 62-50 point victory, which secured them the 3rd FIBA Under 16 Championship for Women, at the Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday.
Risa Nishioka of Japan (black) drives to the basket. - Pic by Susantha Liyanawatte
All of China’s players played a role in the win, and as the game wore on they exhibited some sublime passing and ball movement. However, Manman Zhang was the principal architect of China’s win, finishing one point short of a triple-double after recording nine points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists and three steals. Haimei Wang and Dilishati Dilana, China’s joint top scorers with 10 points apiece, also stepped in with their own set of highlight-reel segments.
Satsuki Shibuya produced a Herculean performance for the Japanese, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, but she and her teammates failed to sustain the attacking intensity which got them off to the perfect start.
Japan blitzed their opponents in the opening quarter with some bullet drives that shredded the Chinese defence and built a 17-9 lead. But China stayed within striking distance thanks to some deadly-accurate shooting and once they started executing from around the basket, Japan started to get the jitters.
China’s Zixuan Guo (nine points) knocked down a three-pointer to tie things at 25 late into the second, before they took a 30-27 lead into the half, their first of the match.
Guo lit it up from beyond the three-point spot in the third quarter to stretch China’s advantage to 47-39 heading into the fourth, and there she continued to strike from distance.
After two consecutive long-range bombs for the Chinese, Wang found herself with a clear path to the basket on a fast-break. Slaloming past two defenders, she then faked them into the air and sunk a basket which gave her side a 15-point lead and stopped the music on Japan’s dance.