BOCAUE — Janine Pontejos honestly thought that at least one of her three long-range attempts in the Philippines’ tussle against Germany on Friday should’ve gone in.
“Noong oras na 'yun, gusto ko i-shoot yung tira ko. Gusto kong manalo talaga, kahit pang-all lang 'yun kasi kung na-shoot ko yun, malaki ang chance namin na manalo,” she said after a 12-10 defeat to the Germans left Perlas Pilipinas at 0-2 in Pool D of the 2018 Fiba 3x3 World Cup.
Pontejos couldn’t have gotten a better look from beyond the arc, and she was open thrice in the final minute of the game. None of her three attempts found the bottom of the net.
“Hindi ko alam kung bakit hindi pumasok kasi sa loob ko, papasok 'yun,” she lamented.
Pontejos felt that the Filipinas did everything they can to upset their powerhouse foes, who were seeded 11th in the 20-team field and enjoyed a big advantage in terms of size.
“Maganda naman ang pinakita namin sa tingin ko, pero na-short pa rin kami kasi sobrang lalaki nila eh,” she said. “Nahirapan din kami bumox-out at humabol. So feeling ko yun ang kulang sa amin, konting aggressiveness pa.”
The Centro Escolar University standout believes that this experience can only be beneficial for the team in the long run.
“Babawi po kami,” she said. “May dalawa pang kaming games so kailangan namin bumawi para yung mga tao naman ma-encourage sumuporta sa amin.”