2018 Under-17 World Cup: Day Six Recap
Every team was looking to go as far as they could in their respective bracket on the penultimate day of the Under-17 World Cup, but with the tough field becoming increasingly so at this business end of the tournament, that was not going to be an easy task for anyone.
Semi Finals
France were in control despite the better chances in the paint from Puerto Rico, who put up 23 points in the final quarter to force the issue, but in the end it would be too little to late for them. With 20 points from both Killian Hayes and Malcolm Cazalon, France put an end to Puerto Rico’s run in the competition and advance to the final, winning by 78 points to 73.
An early ten-point run lifted Canada to lead their long-standing rivals the USA by seven at the end of the first. A ten-point run of their own just before half time put the USA in the lead, and in the second half they started to run away with it behind making the most of their chances in the paint. Jalen Green led all scorers with 25 points off the bench for the USA, he was one of seven players to score in double figures as they blow out Canada by 49 points en route to the final.
5-8th Place Games
Montenegro opened their game with seven points, but it didn’t last long. Turkey were rampant from close range and saw an amazing game from Mustafa Kurtuldum with 28 points, which included four threes. The final score was 101-65 to Turkey.
Behind big efforts in the paint, on the defensive boards and 18 points off the bench from Hunter Clarke, Australia led Croatia by ten in the first half. Croatia hit back with their outside shooting to lead in the third, but stringing together long scoring streaks, Australia finished off the game comfortably. Matej Rudan led all scorers with 20 points for Croatia, but it was Australia who got the win, 71-54.
9th-12th Place Games
A poor showing from Argentina, missing a lot of shot attempts in open play, gifted Serbia the win by twenty points. Conversely, it took three overtime periods to separate Mali and the Dominican Republic, where a three-pointer from David Jones for the latter would turn out to be the difference maker, giving them the buffer they needed to see out the game as winners by 110 to 108.
13th-16th Place Games
After trailing by twenty, China levelled against New Zealand in the fourth quarter where they looked to steal the win, but key shots from Marvin Williams Dunn helped see out New Zealand’s first win of the tournament, in which Mitchell Dance led all scorers with 23 points.
Five points separated Philippines and Egypt at the start of the fourth quarter, and with five seconds left, a three from Mazen Ibrahim closed the gap to one. Gerry Abadiano missed an opportunity to put the game to bed for the Philippines, and on the other end Omar Mosry missed a last-second attempt to get the win for Egypt. Kai Sotto had 28 points and 17 rebounds for the Philippines, who dispatched Egypt by a single point.
The final day of fixtures will be:
15th Place - China vs Egypt
13th Place - New Zealand vs Philippines
11th Place - Argentina vs Mali
9th Place - Serbia vs Dominican Republic
7th Place - Montenegro vs Croatia
5th Place - Turkey vs Australia
3rd Place - Puerto Rico vs Canada
Final - France vs USA
In the build up, be sure to check out the official website of the tournament for more information on all the games.
