Canada Round Off Their Under-17 World Cup Campaign
The 2022 FIBA Under-17 World Cup entered the knockout phase and though Canada found the group stage hard going, there was still a lot of basketball ahead for Patrick Tatham's team and plenty of chances to finish the tournament on a high.
Progress was still possible for Canada, but it would have to come at the expense of tournament hosts Spain, whom they faced at the top of the knockout stage. The Canadians looked prepared to break home hearts, putting up ten points without reply in the first three minutes, but Spain quickly caught up and then took complete control of the game.
Canada went eight minutes without scoring until Mikkel Tyne finally ended the cold streak, but they were left with a lot of ground to make up, Spain were now ahead by twenty points. While the whole team could match the Spanish opposition in the low post, Spain's three-point unit would not be denied.
Spain proved too big an obstacle for Canada to overcome: three scored fourteen points - Hugo Gonzalez Pena who took charge from beyond the arc, inside sharp shooter Aday Mara Gomez who also managed five blocks and Conrad Martinez Viladecans, deadly from all distances - while Izan Almansa Pérez was key to the Spanish defence, registering thirteen total rebounds.
Osezojie Okojie was the game leader with 17 points for Canada, while Tyne put up 16 off the bench, but their title hopes ended at the hands of the hosts who won 87-63. Canada now entered the tournament consolation round, where they would first face Lebanon, who lost to Australia earlier in the same day.
When the teams faced off Canada built an early double digit lead over Lebanon and, after holding them to just five points in the second quarter, ran away with it in the second half. Looking at a fifty-point deficit, there was no way back for Lebanon with Canada keeping up their scoring momentum. Game leader Ishan Sharna had 17 points off the bench while Stephen Osei finished a rebound shy of a double-double, with 14 points in the 94-41 blowout.
Their biggest win of the tournament saw Canada move on to Argentina in the next placement game. After a back-and-forth start Canada asserted themselves towards the end of the first quarter, taking a double-digit lead which reached a game-high 19 midway through the second quarter. Greater success in the low post saw them maintain their huge advantage over Argentina for the next two periods of play.
Argentina would not take this sitting down and led by Juan Bocca they got to within five in the fourth, but Canada put the game to bed with an 8-0 run in the final stretch. Mikkel Tyne led all with 24 points, plus team-best six assists, while Stephen Osei posted 19 points and 8 rebounds in the 91-80 win which saw Canada go on to play Egypt for ninth place.
In their final game Canada had another strong start, holding Egypt to five points at the end of the first quarter, allowing the Canadians to go twenty points in front shortly after the start of the second. Egypt's missed shots kept piling up while Sharna and Jaion Pitt led Canada in dominating in the paint.
The team shot over 50% from the field and sixty points from bench players. Top scorer Seifeldin Hendawy had 23 points for Egypt, but even that was not enough for his team who had been completely overwhelmed in this one. With a final 92-70 win Canada finish the tournament in ninth place. Their earlier avengers Spain went on to make the final, where inevitably the USA ended their run and won the title with a 79-67 win in the final.
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