Ontario Teams qualify for Jr. NBA World Championship Canada Regional

Basketball fans and families gathered in Brampton during the unprecedented ice storm of April, and one week later in London where sudden unseasonably warm temperatures brought sunshine out in everybody, for the Gold Medal finals of U14 Ontario Cup.

It’s always an honour to win Division 1 of Ontario Cup and lay claim to the title of best team in the province at the team’s age group, but this year in particular found a little extra incentive for teams to win and qualify to move on to the Canada Regional of a prestigious new event.

The NBA this year introduced the Jr. NBA World Championship where “boys and girls divisions, each comprised of 16 regional champions (eight U.S. teams and eight international teams) will compete in the inaugural championship in August 2018 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando.”

As the winners of the Ontario Cup, two OBA club teams will represent Ontario and face off with four other teams from across Canada for the chance to represent their country at the Jr. NBA World Championship.

Congratulations to the U14 Girls’ Ontario Cup Champions, Welland NGBA Warriors who went 3-0 in pool play before defeating rival Transway 59-51 in a tightly contested Gold Medal final. Team members include Aleksija Vukovic, Alexis Wright, Corrynn Parker, Emma Koabel, Gabriella Di Pietro, Jayda Rodrigue, Kennedy Millin, Lara Cook, Maya Torigian, Natalie Picton, and coaches Dave Picton, Allison Mauro, and Tom Vukovic.

Congratulations to the U14 Boys’ Ontario Cup Champions, Brampton’s Team Breakdown 416 who entered as the four-seed and went undefeated through tournament play, cluminating in a closing-seconds finish where they hung on to top a tough Triple Balance Canada Elite squad 64-62 for the gold medal. Team members include Austin Turner, Ben Eshun, Bronson Chambers, Carlos Canones, Daniel McCarthy, Dario Green, David Mamidola, Jahlieal Smart, Jamar Shaw, Jeziah Excell-Johnson, Marcus La Roche, Michael Ekome, Nathaniel Levien, Rashane Smith, Tarik Sodhi, and coaches Kevin Cox, Bright Appiah-Owusu, and Jerome Chambers.