(photo courtesy of Wheelchair Basketball Canada)
SAO PAULO, Brazil – Kady Dandeneau scored 36 points and Arinn Young added 25 as Canada pounded host Brazil 85-39 in women’s play on Wednesday to open the Americas Cup wheelchair basketball tournament.
The competition is a qualifier for the IWBF World Championships November 16-27, 2022 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Team Canada started the game on a 6-0 run, and despite the Brazilians pulling to within four points with four minutes remaining in the quarter, Canada held a 21-14 lead after the first. Dandeneau scored 32 of her points in the first half as Canada stretched its lead to 27 points.
“It was a lot of my teammates making moves to get me in scoring position,’’ said Dandeneau, one of nine returning members of the team that placed fifth at the Tokyo 2020 last summer. ‘’I got a lot of good steals. My teammates were really good at getting me mismatches, so it was definitely a team effort.”
Cindy Ouellet chipped in 14 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds.
Men lose their opening game
On the men’s side, Canada fell 66-52 to Brazil despite a 23 -point effort by Colin Higgins.
Canada trailed by seven, 37-30, at halftime and remained close in the fourth quarter trailing by just five to open the final period; however, Brazil made a run and outscored the Canadians 21-12 in the quarter.
“They got a little bit of a streak again, and they started hitting a few shots, and then we missed a couple of real easy shots that we normally hit, and then we couldn’t stay with their streak,” said four-time Paralympian Bo Hedges. “Then they put a bit of a gap.”
Hedges finished with four points and five rebounds while Nik Goncin added 10 points, eight rebounds, and three assists.
Round robin action continues Thursday. The Canadian women’s team meets Guatemala 10:30 a.m. ET and Canada tips off against Argentina at 4:30 p.m. ET.
The top three women’s teams and the top four men’s teams qualify for Dubai.
Team Canada’s men’s and women’s games are streamed on the CBBC TV YouTube channel and the IWBF Facebook page.
With files from Wheelchair Basketball Canada
