FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship: The Story so Far

Twelve of Canada's best young basketball players headed south of the border this week to represent the country in the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship.

After three successive silver medals the hope is for them to go one better in 2022 and better the seven other teams vying for victory. First came the group stage which saw Canada face some of the continent's stiffest competition.

Beginning their campaign against hosts Mexico, after a tight opening the second quarter proved a pivotal point in proceedings as Canada started to pull away. After reaching a game-high lead of sixteen points, Mexico started to fight back, closing the gap from beyond the arc and briefly going in front by one.

Canada were not about to take this lying down and went on a 10-1 run, leading by nine with just two minutes left and stayed the course to the final buzzer. Vasean Allette led Canada with 19 points in the 83-75 victory and did the same only better the next day, with 23 points against Argentina.

After another close start the Argentinians stamped their authority in the second quarter, with success in the low post and connecting from distance keeping Canada at a comfortable distance, eventually reaching a double-digit lead in the third quarter.

The Canadian team kept up the low-post pressure in a heated final period, where there were three successive lead changes but in the end Argentina held their nerve, re-found their rhythm and were able to see out the win. Elijah Fisher had 22 points and Michael Nwoko finished a rebound shy of a double-double in Canada's first loss of the tournament, 97-92 to Argentina.

In the last group game Canada put Brazil on the back foot with an early ten-point lead. Brazil were quick to close the gap with three-pointers, which Canada then utilised to extend their lead once again. The Brazilians kept the gap close with continued success in the low post with threes from Eduardo Klafke making it a single possession game in the final stretch.

At this late stage of the game Thomas Ndong proved vital on both ends, putting up the last points of the game and helping prevent anything more from Brazil, guaranteeing them victory. Allette once again led the Canadians in both scoring and rebounding, with 18 points and 10 total boards, in their two-point win over Brazil.

At Group A's conclusion Canada, Brazil and Argentina all finished with the same win-loss record, meaning the final places would be decided on scoring. With the lowest point differential of the three, Canada finished third above Mexcio. Brazil finished first despite the loss to Canada and Argentina were second.

This means Canada will face Puerto Rico, the second team in Group B, in the quarter finals. Brazil will play the Dominican Republic for a semi-final spot while Argentina have fellow south americans Ecuador to deal with. The only undefeated team so far, the USA, will be playing Mexico in the last quarter-final tie.

Check back here for updates on Canada's progress and find more over on the tournament's official website.