Golden! The USA U6 National Team claimed the gold medal in style at the 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championship.
CANCUN, Mexico–Two weeks of training and competition paid off in
gold for the 2011 USA Basketball Men’s U16 National Team (5-0), which earned a
104-64 victory over Argentina (3-2) in the gold medal game at the FIBA Americas U16
Championship on Saturday night at Poliforum Benito Juarez in Cancun, Mexico.Aaron
Gordon (Archbishop Mitty H.S. / San Jose, Calif.) was the USA’s top scorer with 24
points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field and also was the top rebounder with
15.Jabari Parker (Simeon H.S. / Chicago, Ill.), who averaged 15.4 ppg., 6.4 rpg. and
2.0 spg. over the USA’s five games, was named as the tournament MVP.
“It’s an honor,” said Parker. “I felt surprised because all these guys, each and
every one of them, everybody deserves this MVP trophy. When I got it, I just felt a
sense of accomplishment.”
Five players finished in double-digit scoring, includingJahlil Okafor (Whitney Young
H.S. / Chicago, Ill.), who posted a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds,
Parker scored 14 points,Justin Jackson (Home School Christian Youth Association /
Houston, Texas) had 13 and Theo Pinson (Oak Ridge Military Academy / Greensboro, N.C.)
finished with 10 points.
The FIBA Americas U16 Championship is a qualifying tournament for the 2012 FIBA U17
World Championship. The U.S, Argentina and Canada (4-1), which topped Puerto Rico
(3-2) 86-65 in the bronze medal game, advance to next summer’s U17 Worlds, scheduled
for June 29 – July 12 in Lithuania.
The USA is now 10-0 in FIBA Americas U16 Championship play after sweeping the
competition and earning gold in the inaugural tournament in 2009.
“We have a lot of respect for Argentina,” said USA U16 National Team head coachDon
Showalter (Mid-Prairie High School, Iowa). “They play hard and we know they are not
going to go down easy. We had a pretty good idea of what they were going to do. Our
kids knew it from the first time around that they were going to be a tough team. I
thought we approached the game very, very good from a mental standpoint. We were
ready to play.”
Okafor got the scoring started 10 seconds into the contest as the USA sprinted out
to a 19-3 run that spanned the opening 4:40 of the contest. Argentina began making
some buckets and by the end of the first period, the USA’s lead was 30-17. Okafor
had 10 of the USA’s first quarter points.
Maintaining its lead through most of the second quarter, the U.S. closed out the
half on a 10-2 run to take a 54-30 halftime lead.
Argentina never gave up the fight, but never really threatened the lead as the USA
outscored the South Americans 24-21 in the third quarter and 26-13 in the fourth.