(August 6, 2022) — In Canada Basketball 15U Men’s National Championship action, Ontario claimed the gold medal thanks to a 90-68 victory over British Columbia. Caleb Roberts led Ontario with an 18-point performance while Quinten Ethier added 15 points as Ontario had five players reach double figures. British Columbia was led by Dionycius Bakare’s 20 points while Justin Hinrichson had a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double while also adding four steals and six blocks in the loss.

Ontario trailed 17-14 with 3:27 remaining in the opening quarter, but closed the quarter on a 14-2 run to lead by nine after the first 10 minutes of action. British Columbia got back on track in the second quarter, outscoring Ontario 22-17 to go into the half trailing by just four, 45-41.

After a layup from Bakare trimmed the deficit to just three points with 8:23 remaining in the third quarter, Ontario responded with a 9-2 run to go back ahead by double digits, 57-47, on a layup from Roberts with 6:37 remaining in the third. After matching each attempt from British Columbia to trim the lead, Ontario held a 14-point advantage after three.

The final quarter was more of the same as Ethier opened scoring with a three-pointer for Ontario and then Alexander Mounsey scored on an offensive putback to stretch the lead to 19 points as Ontario went on to pick up the victory.

While Ontario took gold, the 15U Alberta squad defeated Nova Scotia 94-67 to capture the bronze. Idiakose Omofoma led a dominant Alberta team with a 16-point, 13-rebound double-double while Jayden Rushema and Mrigendra Dhaliwal added 15 points apiece as Alberta jumped out to a nine-point lead after the first quarter and didn’t look back. After building the lead to  17 points, 44-27, at the half, Alberta went into the fourth leading by 19 and easily went on to pick up the victory from there.

Alberta shot 54 percent from the floor and 48 percent from beyond the arc as they connected on 10-of-21 three-pointers. Nova Scotia struggled to score, shooting 29 percent from the floor and 14 percent from beyond the arc. Alberta also held a 64-30 edge in rebounds, which helped offset their 34 turnovers in the game.

In Canada Basketball 17U Men’s National Championship action, Québec took down Ontario 92-76 to claim the 17U Men’s gold medal. Felix Kossaras finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds while Christopher Kumu Sheka Paraison had 18 points as Québec prevented Ontario from completing a full sweep of gold medals in the 17U and 15U Men’s and Women’s National Championships.

Hensley Ward Jr. led Ontario with 17 points in the loss as Ontario shot 37 percent from the floor. In comparison, Québec shot 49 percent in a game that was otherwise evenly matched. Québec held a three-point lead after the opening quarter and maintained that three-point lead, 44-41, at the break after a pull-up jumper from Jean-Nicholas Bessette with four seconds remaining in the half.

In the third quarter, Ontario tied the game multiple times, but were unable to ever get in front. A dunk from Ludovic Tournier made it a nine-point lead for Québec with 1:37 remaining in the quarter and then Bessette connected on a three-pointer to extend the lead to 12. Québec went into the fourth leading by 10, 66-56. Ontario continued to push until the final buzzer, but never got any closer than five points in the fourth quarter.

In the bronze medal game, British Columbia outlasted Alberta 121-102 as three players topped the 20-point threshold in the win. Torian Lee had a game-high 24 points while also dishing 12 assists to go with five steals. Irish Coquia scored 23 points and had seven steals and Cole Bekkering had 22 points and six steals as British Columbia recorded 33 steals to just six steals for Alberta. Though Alberta shot 53 percent in the game, British Columbia’s defence helped force Alberta into 48 turnovers, while British Columbia turned the ball over just 18 times in comparison. British Columbia made Alberta pay for those extra possessions, making 13 three-pointers to Alberta’s seven.

Colby Anderson led Alberta in the loss with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists while Cian Smith scored 21 points and Maradama Benjamin added 18 points.

British Columbia wasted little time getting going, jumping out to a 14-3 lead and then a 20-7 lead in the opening quarter before Alberta punched back, and trailed by just three after the first 10 minutes. A layup from Nate Waldron to open the second quarter trimmed the British Columbia lead to just a point before Coquia responded with back-to-back three-pointers to put British Columbia ahead by seven. A layup from Coquia made it a double-figure lead for British Columbia, and then a three from Lee extended the advantage to 13 points, 36-23, with 7:06 remaining in the half. After Anderson got Alberta within nine points with under a minute to go in the quarter, British Columbia closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 16-point advantage into the break.

In the third, a three-pointer and then a floater from Alberta’s Nate Maxwell, trimmed the deficit to seven points with 6:34 remaining in the quarter. Another three from Coquia put British Columbia back ahead by 12 points and Alberta wouldn’t be able to trim the lead heading into the fourth.

In a high-scoring final quarter Alberta had no problem scoring, but were unable to slow British Columbia’s offence as British Columbia erupted for 38 points in the fourth en route to their bronze medal victory.