Canada On Top at Women's Americas Under-18 Championship

The Argentinian capital is this week the continent's capital of basketball, hosting the women's Under-18 Americas Championship. One of the eight teams taking part, Canada having amassed silver medlas in the last four editions of this tournament and from their early exploits in Buenos Aries it is looking like they are in a strong position to change that.

First was the group stage, where the teams divided into two pools of four would first battle it out to decide how they would all fit into the knockout bracket on Friday. In their opening game it was hard to separate Canada and Mexico at the start, but in the second quarter the Canadians asserted their dominance with twelve points without reply. Cleaning up both inside the arc and out they started to leave the Mexicans in the distance.

Playing higher-percentage basketball for the entire second half and three of their players scoring in double digits, led by T'yana Todd 16 off the bench, Canada got the tournament off to a winning start with an opening 68-40 victory over Mexico.

The next day they showed Brazil no mercy, holding them to single digits on three of four quarters, dominating in the low post and scorching the opposition from beyond the arc. Brazil had nothing they could offer in response. Four Canadians past the double-digit mark, with Todd once again leading all with 15 points, while Marah Dysktra worked hard on the defensive end with fifteen total rebounds in their team's 80-38 takedown of Brazil.

So far so good to end Group A Canada would face possibly their hardest test yet in hosts Argentina; a big win here could see them jump everyone else to top the group, while the Canadians were looking to keep their perfect record intact.

Early success in the paint saw the Argentinians take the lead to begin with, but before long Canada went in front, buoyed by their long-range shooting. Continuing to add more from beyond the arc as well as limit Argentina on the defensive glass, they put the lead more and more out of the hosts' reach as the game progressed.

Canada were on fire in this one from three-point territory, with fourteen of their attempts dropping and six players making at least one three. Todd again was the leading light with seventeen points in just eighteen minutes, while Dykstra impressed on both ends with thirteen points and rebounds.

Victory over Argentina 89-55 saw Canada finish the group stage without recording a loss. Winning their other two fixtures Brazil finished the pool second, ahead of Argentina in third and winless Mexico fourth. This means when the knockout stage begins Canada will be facing El Salvador, a win here will see them progress to a meeting with either Colombia or Argentina in the semi finals.

Check back here to see how they fare in the business end of the Americas Under-18 Championship, while more can be found over on the tournament's official website.