Welland team nets trip to Orlando
Warriors girls under-14 team wins inaugural Jr. NBA Canadian Championship
It was a fantastic weekend on the basketball court for the Welland Warriors under-14 girls team.
The Warriors booked a trip to central Florida after winning the Jr. NBA Canadian Championship at the regional finals, which were held at Brock University and Meridian Centre on the weekend.
The Warriors defeated Vancouver’s VK Basketball, 56–53 in a tightly contested gold-medal game.
Head coach Dave Picton attributed the victory to the team’s depth.
“We can have everyone step up at any time,” he said. “Our depth is huge.
“Our skill set at each position carried us through.”
Further testament to the Warriors’ depth was the team went 5-0 at the tournament despite the absence of Corrynn Parker, who suffered a cracked fibia two weeks ago.
“She’s one of our best players, and we had to play without her, but everyone stepped up.”
The Wellanders faced some added pressure as the host team at the national tournament, especially when the gold medal was on the line Sunday at Meridian Centre.
“I think the pressure is always there when you have bigger crowds,” Picton said. “But I think those crowds picked us up and helped us at the tournament.”
He declined to single out top scorers or key contributors.
“I would rather not, this was a team victory,” Picton said. “Every game, somebody else stood out.”
It was Welland’s second victory over Vancouver in as many games at the qualifying tournament in St. Catharines. The Warriors also downed VK Basketball 44-18 on their way to heading into the final with a 4-0 record.
Welland’s other victories were over the Saskatoon Shock, 78-22; Quebec’s Blizzard SSF, 36-23; and the Atlantic Canada representative, the Jr. Axewomen, 59-31.
The boy's team that won the regional final were the Brampton Breakdown 416, who also undefeated compiling a 5-0 record. They beat Ath-Elite Basketball, of Surrey, B.C., 72-56.
Ontario teams in both the boys’ and girls’ divisions advanced to the gold medal games, which were played at Meridian Centre and on the same court used for the FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship.
That eight-team, six-day event wrapped up Saturday night with the U.S. beating Canada 113-74.
In addition to the finalists, Argentina and Puerto Rico also qualified to compete at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup taking place next year at eight cities in China.
Canada will enter the World Cup as defending champions after winning its first-ever gold medal at the under-19 championships held last year in Cairo, Egypt.
Abu Kigab, who played high school hoops at St. Francis Catholic Secondary School and was selected St. Catharines athlete of the year for 2017, was a key contributor to that milestone victory. He was named to the tournament all-star team.
The squads from Welland and Brampton receive all-expensespaid trips to compete in the culminating event on Aug. 7-12 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.
The event models itself on the Little League World Series.