U17 Team Wins Canada’s First Ever FIBA World Cadette Medal

On August 26, 2012, the Canadian Cadette team claimed a Bronze Medal after beating Japan 84-77 in the FIBA U17 World Championships for Women in Amsterdam.

photo courtesy of fiba.com

The Canadians had started the game on a 7-0 run and an eventual 23-20 lead after the First Quarter.  But, that lead was short lived as their attack seemed to stall in that second quarter. They saw their 3 point lead evaporate and eventually turn into 11 point deficit by Halftime.

“Unbelievable effort…we got down but did not quit”, said a jubilant Canadian Head Coach, Carly Clarke.

The Canadians came out extremely strong in the Third Quarter, and totally turned things around.  The Canadians owned the glass, outrebounding the Japanese by total of 70-40 throughout the game.  Many of those rebounds and hustle plays were carried out in this Quarter which saw Canada wipe out the deficit and take a 5 point, 68-63 lead.

In the Fourth Quarter, with about 5 minutes remaining, Japan would draw close bringining the score to 72-71 before the deeper Team Canada bench would forge ahead for good, and finish the game with the 84-77 victory.

“This group has been resilient the entire time we’ve been together and today was another great example of that,” said head coach, Carly Clarke. “As we have all tournament, we got meaningful contributions from all twelve players on the team.  This was a great group of people and players to work with and I look forward to watching them continue to develop over the years.”

Canadian starting Forward, Emma Wolfram also echoed the sentiments of her Coach.

“I am so excited; we won because of teamwork, defensive transition adjustments and overall resiliency.”

Canada’s finish at the FIBA World Championships is a vast improvement compared to the last time Canada was at this tournament.  For Worlfram winning Bronze, the first ever medal for Canada at this event, was a major milestone.

“The last time Canada was here we placed 11th, so this is a major improvement from that.  I’m just really excited for our team”, Wolfram told fiba.com.

As for how these championships will impact the players they are all likely to see things the way Wolfram did.  “This whole experience has allowed me to see so many great players from around the world and has motivated me to go back home and get to work.”

Key Contributers for Team Canada vs Japan
Emily Potter 17 points, 11 rebounds
Emma Wolfram 15 points, 15 rebounds
Kia Nurse 14 points

Click here for more stories on the Canadians’ run in the Cadette U17 FIBA World Championships