Khate Castillo waxed hot from deep as Gilas Pilipinas got back on the winning track after dealing Vietnam a 116-58 crushing in the 5-on-5 women’s basketball tournament in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games at the Elephant Hall 2 Morodok Techo National Stadium on Saturday, May 13.

Afril Bernardino goes for a layup against the Vietnamese defense(**Ariya Kurniawan | @ariyakurniawan16 on IG)

After absorbing their first loss at the hands of the tournament-pacing Indonesia, the Filipinas came out with extra fire in their eyes, firing 11 triples in a hot-shooting first half to bounce back and remain in contention for a podium finish with a 3-1 record.

It was Castillo who showed the way for Gilas, firing 22 points built on fiery 7-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.

Jack Animam also bounced back from a lackluster performance the last time out, dropping 13 of his 16 points in the first half, apart from 13 rebounds while Clare Castro chalked up 15.

Three other Filipinas finished in double-figures with Afril Bernardino finishing with 12 and Janine Pontejos and Camille Clarin adding 11 each as Gilas wound up with 18 triples at the end of the wire-to-wire affair.

With the hopes of completing a three-peat not anymore on its hands, Gilas made sure to control what it can control, opening the game with a fiery offensive display that saw them take a 35-25 lead at the end of the opening frame.

If that was not enough, the Filipinas even shifted to a higher gear in the second quarter especially on the defensive end, limiting the Vietnamese to just nine points while exploding for 33 for a commanding 34-point lead, 68-3,4 at the half.

Gilas didn’t show any let-up even when the game was seemingly already out of reach as the lead even ballooned to as many as 58 points after the game.

Thao Vy Truong was the lone bright spot for Vietnam with 15 points as her team also fell to a 1-3 record in the standings.