MEXICO CITY — Another FIBA U18s final, another Gold Medal is the way the USA Basketball has dominated the FIBA U18 Americas over the past 12 events. This year, this time, the American squad beat their northern neighbor Canada 84-60 to claim their 9th consecutive gold medal, 10th overall since 1988.
It was a sloppy first quarter for the USA as they missed three layups and had 6 turnovers and 7 fouls to fall behind to Canada 18-14. It was key that USA Head Coach Jeff Walz played 10 of his 11 players in the quarter despite the game going back and forth.
In the second period the game changed quickly when Christyn Williams (Little Rock, AR/Connecticut) scored 5 pts, 3 assists, Nazahrah Hillmon-Baker (Cleveland, OH/Michigan) 6 points / 4 rebounds and NaLyssa Smith (Converse, TX/Baylor) 7 points dominated play to give the USA a 39-31 edge at halftime. USA jumped out on the Canadians in the third quarter getting 12 points in the paint and nine bench points for a 64-40 lead. The final quarter saw both teams using their benches and giving players FIBA playing experience. Canada’s Christina Morra had 11 points at halftime but managed only two the rest of the game to be their only double-digit scorer.
(USA U18 Women’s Basketball Coach Jeff Walz talks about the change the USA team made in the 2nd quarter of the FIBA U18 Finals vs. Canada)
This small 8-team FIBA U18 event is a prelude to next year’s FIBA U19 World Championships and the end of the youth development event schedule. After this there’s no more competitions for youth, only college level tours and maybe a FIBA U24 event as a pre-Olympic/World Cup roster tryout. The PanAm Games which are not a part of the FIBA calendar are an opportunity to see how a few post-college, professional players fit in.
And, this year’s U18 victory does not portend greater success as it has in the past. Last year in the U19s in Udine, Italy (site of this year’s U18 Europe Division A championships) the USA fell for the first time in this U19/World Cup series to Russia in the final, outscoring the Americans each the last two quarters for a 86-82 gold medal. It was a rematch of the 2015 battles where the USA prevailed over the host Russians 78-70. The Russian trio of MVP Maria Vadeeva (37 pts), Raisa Musina (42 pts) and Viktoriia Zavialova helped claim their first U19 gold medal in 28 years and revenged their 2015 defeat. That loss broke the USA’s record of six consecutive gold medals since 2005.
Women’s U18 Head Coach Jeff Walz (Louisville) knows quite well the dynamics of FIBA competition and the pursuit of American gold medals and excellence as he was the assistant to 2015 U19 head coach (and 2020 Olympic coach and legend) Dawn Staley (South Carolina). He got the chance to see what it takes to win gold but to also look at the players competing as they are the future of USA Basketball.
(USA U18 Women’s Basketball Coach Jeff Walz discusses what it’s like coaching a USA comprised of all-stars for this FIBA U18s.)
With the USA U17 claiming back the gold medal in Minsk, Belarus against France two weeks ago, the discussion of the USA Olympic pipeline is a huge and quietly discussed items as each USA Team and USA Player is potentially a future USA Olympian and World Cup team member. This year’s USA Women’s National team will go after gold in prelude to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with the 2019 FIBA World Cup in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain from September 24 to 30. It is expected to have many veterans from the 2016 squad in Rio. Heading into 2020 and beyond, today’s non-Olympic pros and college former USAB players are under constant scrutiny to see if they will fit the USAB profile as a team member.
While this year’s USAB U17 might have been the best team that’s competed in FIBA competition in almost a decade, this year’s USAB U18 could have more individual future WNBA and professional talent on their roster. Nine former members of various USA U19 teams have already played in the Olympics. It will be up to the USAB selection committees and Women’s Director Carol Callan to measure these players against those a few years ahead in college and just into the WNBA to find our future 2024 and 2028 USA Senior National Team members.
(USA Women’s Basketball Coach Jeff Walz discusses the future of his gold medal winning players with the USA Basketball talent pipeline for the Senior Women’s National Team)
GAME NOTES: The USA had 10 of 11 players score during this gold medal final. Smith led the Americans with 16 points, Williams with 11 points, 5 assists, Hillmon-Baker with 10 points and Ashley Joens (Iowa City, IA/Iowa State) with 10 points. USA which trailed in rebounds in the first quarter won the boards with a 45-36 advantage. USA got 46 bench points and 50 points in the paint. Team Center Sedona Prince who was injured during the event was flown back to Texas for medical treatment and was not here for the Gold Medal ceremony.
CANADA: While capturing their third consecutive silver medal and fifth overall (all against the USA) the focus of the Canadian National program is to discover and prepare athletes for their Senior Women’s National team and FIBA Olympic and World Cup competition. As with most nations in the Americas and even overseas, many Federations will tell you that they don’t have the population nor level of Basketball involvement and talent pools as the USA. Last year at the FIBA U16 Americas the Canadians were defeated 91-46 but found some future talent in Merissah Russell. This Canada U18 team was a completely different team from the one that play in the U16 America last year. That team was the basis for Canada’s U17 World Cup team in Minsk two weeks ago. Unlike many European teams, Canada selected a new batch of players instead of bringing back most of the U17 team for this event.
OTHER GAMES: Argentina captured the Bronze medal with a 62-52 win over Columbia. This game was a blowout at halftime as Argentina led 36-22 and then 52-36 after three quarters. Columbia which features three stars in 5-7 Miami Country Day School guard Maria Alvarez (15 points), Mayra Caicedo (20 points) and 6-5 post Yuliany Paz (10 rebounds) made the game close in the final quarter. This game was a rematch of the 2017 of the FIBA U16 Americas Bronze medal game which was also won by Argentina 59-52 in a very physical contest.
Puerto Rico claimed 5th place, opening the game in the second half on Chile to get a 61-54 victory. Surprisingly the Puerto Rico team which had a few player who lived in America during the 2017 FIBA U16s in Argentina did not have any USA representatives during this event.
Host Mexico captured 7th place after beating El Salvador 60-39. Karla Martinez, a 5-11 forward, led Mexico with 21 points on 8 for 10 field goal shooting.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: The USA had two players on the All-Tournament team in MVP Rhyne Howard and Maori Davenport. Joining the squad were Columbia’s guard Mayra Caicedo, Argentina’s wing Florencia Chagas and Canada’s forward Christina Morra. The USA team balance was so strong that a number of other players could have made this group.
