ISTANBUL (Türkiye) - Felipe Quinones etched his name in Puerto Rico history with an inspiring performance at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024, scoring 42 points in shocking 91-84 victory over France to eliminate one of the top title challengers.
Quinones' scoring barrage ranks second all-time in the U17 World Cup scoring charts - behind only Dzanan Musa's 50 points for Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2016. He made 12-of-23 field goal attempts and 16-of-18 free throws to go with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. The 16 free throws made set a new U17 World Cup record, eclipsing the previous mark of 14 by David Jones of Dominican Republic in 2018.
Quinones felt overwhelmed that Puerto Rico reached the Quarter-Finals.
"I came here to win. I didn't come here for MVP or any trophy. I just wanted to win. And now, the little island that I am from, we are top eight in the world," said Quinones, who is the youngest player on the team as a 2008-born player.
The win came over a France team that was ranked second in the pre-tournament Power Rankings and was considered one of the few contenders to possibly dethrone United States.
Quinones acknowledged his scoring mark but also said the team is most important.
"It feels good obviously as a player to get recognition. But I came into this game with the mindset of winning. If me scoring 42 points gets us the win, I will do that. Like yesterday (against Philippines), we won and I only had 7 points. If the team needs me to get assists, I will do that," said Quinones, who had totaled just 13 points in the first three games of the competition.
Quinones has been dealing with a left leg issue the entire tournament and he did not play in Puerto Rico's three preparation games ahead of the event.
"Right now I am hurting. My whole body hurts. I am battling but I am doing it for the island and I am just happy and happy I can make the coaches proud again."
Puerto Rico head coach Eddin Santiago is impressed with his young team leader.
"He's a special talent. Unfortunately he hasn't been 100 percent because of his injuries basically for the last month. He's a very important part of our success and today it was shown," he said.
Santiago said the coaching staff has to watch out how they handle Quinones.
"He's going to go no matter what. He's been telling us that he can go every time but he's still 16 years old so you have to watch how you handle kids in this situation. He's not a professional and we have to handle it like that, but this is a one-time thing and we don't know if we will ever come back."
Puerto Rico are playing in the U17 World Cup for the third time and this is the third time they have reached the Quarter-Finals. They took fifth place in 2014 and were third place in 2018.
I don't like talking, I just like letting the game talk - Felipe Quinones
"We are trying to create our own different story. We are not thinking about (2018). We just believe in ourselves, believe in what the coaches tell us. I don't like talking, I just like letting the game talk and look," Quinones said.
His game - and that of Puerto Rico - certainly spoke very loudly in shocking the world.
FIBA