3x3 Women's Series Edmonton - Full Review
Another week, another Canadian 3x3 tournament as part of the Women's Series. This time it came live from the midwest and Edmonton, where eight teams wowed the crowds with high-energy basketball across two days.
Team Canada welcomed back Michelle and Katherine Plouffe to the line up, joining Kacie Bosch and Paige Crozon. The team was looking to make up for falling short last time out in Quebec, and with the twins originally being from Edmonton, the team could count on a lot of home support.
They wasted no time making their presence felt, Katherine put up the first four points in the first pool game against Nunawading and Canada's first six on the game. Michelle and Crozon joined in from the low post as Canada doubled the Australians' total after six minutes.
The twins put up the last six points of the game between them to close out the game winners 19-10, with Katherine finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds in the opener. The Plouffes were at it once again early on in the second pool game against Puerto Rico. Despite that their opponents kept it tight from the off until five points unanswered put Canada up 10-5 halfway through regulation.
Canada were then leading by eight after another 5-0 run, Puerto Rico built some steam late on but it was too little too late. Canada closed out the game by a final scored of 21-10 with a minute and a half left, Crozon was unstoppable here from all ranges, putting up a game-high nine points in the Canadian win.
In the final game of Pool A, Canada opened against Chile with a 7-0 run, Crozon putting up eight of their first nine points in the game. Katherine then started gathering steam, along with her team mates, and they left Chile floundering. Behind nine points again from Crozon and seven from Katherine, Canada topped Pool A undefeated, earning a bye to the semi final with a 21-5 over Chile.
At the same time Nunawading rebounded after their opening loss, blowout wins over Chile and Puerto Rico securing them second place behind standout play from Miela Goodchild. Puerto Rico may have lost two in a row, but their opening 16-4 win over Chile and guaranteed their place on day two in Edmonton.
Elsewhere, Pool B started with big wins for Dallas and Barcelona Panthers, who then met one another. Dallas gained advantage in the pool, winning a close game by three points, they would leap Barcelona in the standings and poised to make the semi-finals.
Also in Pool B, German team Heidelberg beat Tsukuba 16-12, leaving the Japanese needing a win over Barcelona to have any chance of progressing. A second half push led by Haruko Tsuiki gave them the much-needed win, but Heidelberg still progressed having lost to Dallas by a smaller margin, they made it out of the pool by a single point scored.
Pool B winners Dallas advanced to the semi finals along with Canada, who awaited the winners of the two quarter finals first. Nunawading beat Heidelberg by ten to reach the semi finals, while the Panthers won 21-16 over Puerto Rico, setting up a tie with Canada.
In the first semi final, Michelle Plouffe and Crozon were effective from outside early on, Canada began the game 7-0. Katherine then joined in while Crozon was still getting it done from the low post, making their lead nine points. Crozon hit four in a row to put Canada within a point of victory and Michelle had the last shot from the free-throw line, sending Canada through to the final.
The only thing standing in their way of victory was Dallas, who in a short space of time meant business. The Texan team had hit the ground running, finishing second in their first tournament appearance in Quebec, they beat Nunawading 22-9 to reach the final in Edmonton.
The Plouffes once again showed their prowess and put together an early lead for Canada, though Dallas was keeping it close from the low post. The sisters then hit from in and outside the arc, putting Canada up by seven, while also limiting Dallas' chances on defence.
Michelle then had four in a row, then she and Crozon combined in what would be the last minute to bring the game to a close. The final ended with Michelle finishing on 14 points, Canada winning 21-11 and capturing victory on home soil. With her 7.0 points per game among the best in Edmonton, Michelle Plouffe was named player of the tournament, while Katherine and Paige Crozon both averaged 6.4 points and Katherine the third-best rebounder.
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