Arrin Young – File photo
by Morinville News Staff
The Canadian Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team will take on the United States for first place at the 2017 Americas Cup. The women, which include Legal’s Arinn Young, advance to gold after finishing the preliminary round undefeated.
With a final preliminary win against Argentina, the Canadian women solidified their place at the top of the group and will fight for the gold medal at the tournament on Tuesday, August 29 at 8 p.m. ET.
The 69-32 win against Argentina came after another dominant Canadian performance where the women were determined to maintain their perfect record in the tournament. Canada carved out an early lead by nearly doubling the Argentinian output, 19-10, by the end of the first quarter. Canada never allowed Argentina the chance to retaliate and kept firm control of the game, entering halftime with a 38-18 advantage and eventually cruising to the win with a solid 37-point lead.
“I think we started off a little bit slow but we managed to pick it up. It was a really great game because everyone got some good minutes, so it was nice to see all 10 players contributing and pushing hard. We came out on top and it was a great last pool game building up to our final against the States,” said Team Canada player Kady Dandeneau (Pender Island, B.C.).
Dandeneau notched a game-high 18 points for Canada while Arinn Young (Legal, Alta.) and Erica Gavel (Prince Albert, Sask.) each contributed 12 points.
The Canadian men’s team also completed pool play on Sunday afternoon with a 68-49 win against the Argentinian men to ensure their spot at the top of Group A. Canada will play Colombia in the quarter-final with a berth to the world championship on the line on Monday, August 28 at 8 p.m. ET.
For more info visit www.wheelchairbasketball.ca.
