Ontario U17, Quebec U15 Programs Capture Canada Basketball National Titles!
The 2016 Canada Basketball National Championships are in the books with two very strong, athletic and skilled teams taking the home the titles.
Team Ontario used its depth and its athletic prowess in a 1-2-1-1 press to defeat Team Quebec 76-53 in the U17 Final.
Ontario, as expected has a great roster 1 through 12 but the story of the championship game was Milton, Ontario’s Laeticia Amihere who registered 23pts and 8rbs. Amihere a first Team All Star, used her length at the front of the press to disrupt Quebec and took players off the bounce and in the post using either hand to finish strong.
Again, I want to reiterate that Team O had an array of talent that included 5-8 Guard Shaina Pellington (9pts 5rbs) an adept ball handler with excellent change of pace who could make the three, Pellington was Ontario’s leader throughout the tournament and was awarded by being named tournament MVP.
Taisha Exanor, a 5-11 Forward from Saint-Laurent led the way for Quebec with 12pts. Exanor another lengthy athletic player with a well rounded skill lead her team throughout the tournament and was selected as a first team All Star.
Tournament MVP:
Shaina Pellington – ON
1st Team All-Stars:
Laeticia Amihere – ON Emily Dewey – SK Taisha Exanor – QC Raizel Guinto – MB 11 Sage Stobbart – BC
2nd Team All-Stars:
Robyn Boulanger – MB Ella Johnson – SK Roxane Makolo – QC Christina Morra – ON Sarah Te-Biasu – QC
In the U15 title game, Quebec used its aggressive D to force tempo and keep British Columbia from establishing their dominance in the paint to come out with a 61-48 victory for the National Crown.
Donna Ntambue a 5-9 slasher was sensational dropping 25 points, grabbing nine rebounds and picking pockets seven times. Ntambue is a long athletic rangy left hander who goes left any time she wants and kept BC on their heels all game long. This wasn’t a rarity for Ntambue as she dominated throughout the tournament and earned the Tournament MVP nod.
In the final British Columbia was led once again by 5-11 Forward Kennedy Dickie and 6-0 Forward Deanna Tuchscherer who were both selected as first Team All Stars. Tuchscherer (Chilliwack, BC) controlled the paint through rim sealing and quick finishing for 15pts and Dickie (Kelowna, BC) is a versatile forward who does a bit of everything–registered a double-double of 13pts, 11rbs.
Tournament MVP:
Donna Ntambue – QC
1st Team All-Stars:
Sandrine Clesca – QC Kennedy Dickie – BC Makayla Ennis – ON Claire Signatovich – MB Deanna Tuchscherer – BC
2nd Team All-Stars:
Lauren Bartlett – MB Kenya Cote Lysius – QC Yvonne Ejim – AB Savannah Provo – NS Merissah Russell – ON
The Future
As we already know women’s basketball is thriving in Canada with our Senior Women’s National Team competing in The Olympics in August and our Cadet teams performing very well internationally.
The participants in the tournament showed the reason for our successes as the 2016 National Championships displayed our provincial grassroots talent.
In sport, we use population base as a reason for greatness, the bigger population provinces compared to the smaller population provinces.
Yes it is true that our biggest province like Ontario has greater resource of players but a team like Saskatchewan showed this does not determine success. The Sask U17 team was a legitimate contender and lost a tight semi final after the hot shooting of Team Quebec.
As someone who has coached provincial basketball, medalled and challenged for a National title, I completely understand it is about work ethic and thorough skill development that leads to belief in ability to compete and succeed. All these games at Nationals should be competitive.
On behalf of North Pole Hoops, I will work relentlessly to ensure that Canadian girls basketball is recognized in the same fashion as the boys. NPH looks forward to being involved in this growth process from a skill development, character development and NATIONAL exposure standpoint–the three pillars of the NPH Showcase circuit.
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The first ever girls NPH Showcase camp will take place in New Brunswick AUG 19-21. For interested Atlantic Canada Basketball prospects grade 8-12, be a part of the NPH Showcase experience by registering here. #GameSpeaks #MaximizePotential
