FIBA Flashback: Konig Takes Off in 2017 Tangle with Latvia
In the absence of both the men's and women's FIBA Under-17 World Cups, originally to be held this summer, we take a look back at some of Canada's most memorable moments from past editions of FIBAs premiere international youth tournaments.
Back in 2017, the team at the Under-19 Women's World Cup, which was held in Italy, took part in one of the most exciting and unpredictable games of the tournament.
In their first two group games Canada had picked up a comfortable win against Korea and a more hard-fought one against France. They were looking to move on to the knockout round with a perfect record at the expense of Latvia, who so far had only one win to their names, but were looking to change that in the final game of Group C.
The Latvians started off well: threes from Laura Grabe and Janeta Rozentale gave Latvia an early 8-2 lead and while Canada's missed shots piled up at this early stage of play, the Latvians continued to keep their lead healthy.
Aislinn Konig would finally spark for Canada and tied the game with a pair of threes with just over 2:30 to go in the first quarter. Laeticia Amihere then gave Canada their first lead with a minute to go, while on the other end Dinija Pavelsone had five in a row to finish an erratic end to the first quarter, with Latvia up 21-19.
Pavelsone continued to blight Canada in the second quarter, who were still coming up shot in the field. Amihere broke their deadlock midway through the quarter and the team were able to bring the gap down to one point.
They did not count on Digna Strautmane catching fire for Latvia and Grabe following suit, giving them a seven point lead with three minutes to go in Q2. Konig and Pellington worked to close the gap, but a late layup from Mara Mote ensured a Latvian lead at half-time, they left the court ahead by four.
Hailey Brown and Alyssa Jerome combined to tie the game shortly after the restart, Latvia respond with an 8-0 run. Amihere's response was six points in a row for Canada, which tied the game at the midpoint of the third. Here, Alyssa Jerome picked up the scoring and put Canada in the lead, which Aislinn Konig stretched out to seven soon after.
After five points in a row from Marianna Klavina, Dinija Pavelsone tied the game with 1:30 left in the quarter. Another three from Konig and a 4-0 run from Pellington in the final minute gave Canada a 55-48 lead going into the final period of the game.
In the fourth Pavelsone was at it again for Latvia: after tying the game Mote followed up by restoring their lead after two and a half minutes had elapsed. Konig quickly returned the lead back to Canada with a pair of threes and they held the four-point advantage until Strautmane brought it down to two with four minutes left.
After Amihere added two more for Canada, both teams kept searching for more until Septe hit a three and followed with two from the line, Latvia were now in front by one. Konig once again was the top responder for Canada, hitting two threes in the stretch to put her team back in front with fifteen seconds on the clock.
Hannah Hall added one from the line for Canada, putting them ahead by four at a crucial point in the game, and on the defensive end Shaina Pellington prevented any further points from Latvia and at the final buzzer the whole team could breathe easy. They had won the game 74 points to 70.
Pavelsone had 19 for Latvia in the loss with Strautmane contributing 14. The very best player was Aislinn Konig for Canada, who put up 32 points in the game, made up of ten shots from three-point territory. Pellington was the second-best scorer with 15 and Laeticia Amihere put up 14 points off the bench, while the defensive player of the game was Hailey Brown, who grabbed 14 total rebounds in the contest.
This win saw Canada finish the group in first place and progress to play Mexico, the fourth-place team of Group D, in the knockout round. Winning by 21 points, they went on to face China in another close game in the quarter finals, where they were victorious by three points.
After a 65-41 defeat to Russia in the semi-final, they would finish with the bronze medal after beating Japan in the third place game - their best finish in the Under-19 World Cup to date.
Nothing, though, could quite match the drama and excitement of the game against Latvia, which can be seen in its entirety here:
