China, NZ, Australia and the Philippines reach semis

Australia, China, New Zealand and the Philippines all won in the quarter-finals of the FIBA U16 Asian Championship 2023 to claim the remaining spots at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024 to be played in Turkiye from 29 June to 7 July.Australia’s winning streak continued yesterday as they beat Jordan in dominating fashion, 117-50.The Crocs have now scored at least 100 points in four straight games, extending their winning streak in the competition to 15.Seven players scored in double-digits in this game for Australia led by Henry Sewell who had 18 points and 13 rebounds. Every player recorded at least 1 assist for the team, combining for 34 assists in total - their third game of at least 30 assists this year in the competition.Huan, China block Iran from making historyIn an exciting clash between the Asian basketball powerhouses, China defeated Iran 62-56 to reach the semi-finals.Even though Iran had beaten China in their two latest encounters at the youth level (U18 Asian Championship 2016 and U19 World Cup 2015), they had yet to beat China in the U16 Asian Championship after two previous clashes.That losing streak was extended to three games, despite a valiant effort by Iran, in a tightly contested game. Neither team went up ahead by double-digits and saw the lead change hands 11 times, but in the end, it was China who remained composed to the end to stay on top at the buzzer. Iran had the gap trimmed down to two points with less than 4 minutes left in the game, but Ziheng Wang stole the ball on two straight possessions to swing momentum back China’s way.Sinan Huan blocked an attempt by Iran in the final seconds that potentially could have turned it to a one-possession game, shutting down all hope for good. Huan recorded a total of 6 blocks in this game, the most in U16 Asian Championship since Kai Sotto in 2017. Leading the way for China once again was Boyuan Zhang who had 22 points including an off-balanced three-point shot in the final minutes that silenced the Iran bench.The win keeps China’s streak going of making it to every semi-final of the U16 Asian Championship they play in.They are aiming for fifth trip to the Final and a fourth U16 title to add to their resume.New Zealand power past Qatar with dominating showNew Zealand, meanwhile, ran away with a 110-33 victory over Qatar to secure a third consecutive semi-finals bid in as many appearances in the U16 Asian Championship. The Junior Tall Blacks dominated on all ends, holding Qatar to only 19.0 percent shooting from the field.The points scored by Qatar are the least amount of points ever allowed by New Zealand in the competition.They also grabbed 67 rebounds, the most by a New Zealand team in the competition.This is also the most points scored by New Zealand in the competition ever since their first game when they scored 124 points, resulting in their largest victory.Five players scored in double-digits for New Zealand, with two surpassing the 20-point mark in Lachlan Crate (20 points) and Oscar Goodman (23 points).Meanwhile, Troy Plumtree had a big double-double of 15 points and 17 rebounds.New Zealand are also headed back to the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup with the victory.The Philippines prove too good for JapanFired up by the play of their rising star, the Philippines came from behind to beat Japan 64-59.The game started out in favour of the Philippines as they blasted off to a 7-0 run.However, that lead didn’t last long as Japan ran back with a run of their own to overtake the lead.Japan continued to play to their form, and build up a lead as big as 10 points at half time.Then, Kiefer Alas was welcomed to the stage.The Philippines leading scorer was coming off a subpar scoring effort against Korea and had 7 points in the first half against Japan.In the third quarter, he completely took over the show, scoring 14 of the Philippines’ 21 points - outscoring Japan all by himself.Quarter-finals resultsAustralia vs Jordan - 117-50China vs Iran - 62-56New Zealand vs Qatar- 110-33Philippines vs Japan - 64-59