When Paris 2024’s floating Olympic cauldron was lit, the expectation for USA Basketball’s 3×3 team was to replicate the performance from the Tokyo Olympics that saw the Red, White and Blue depart from Japan with gold medals draped around their necks.
Things began auspiciously for Team USA in that first matchup with Germany. Cierra Burdick, Rhyne Howard, Dearica Hamby and Hailey Van Lith jumped out to an early lead but Germany rallied to stun the USA in that opening contest.
As more matchups took place on the 3×3 court at Place De La Concorde, things looked increasingly grim. Team USA was placed in the loss column at the hands of Azerbaijan and Australia. The question then became would the Stars and Stripes, gold medal winners from a pandemic-marred Games three years ago, even get onto the medal stand.
Except the red, white and blue colors did not run.
A 17-11 victory from the Stars and Stripes over Spain renewed the hopes of American fans. Team USA then eked out a 14-13 victory over host France and an overtime 18-17 win over Canada to renew its medal hopes.
Two victories in the same day over China then set Team USA up for a semi-final contest against the same Spain that fell to the Red, White and Blue previously. That contest went into overtime with a berth in the gold medal contest on the line, but Spain would prevail with the final score being 18-16.
Although USA Basketball’s hopes of a repeat 3×3 gold were dashed, the team still had a chance to ensure its time in the City of Lights would result in a medal. All that stood in the way of Howard, Burdick, Van Lith and Hamby was Canada.
At one point in the contest, things looked bleak for Team USA as Canada went ahead by a tally of 7-3. That was followed by a 5-1 run which knotted things up at eight apiece. Canada then pulled ahead once again with just over three minutes remaining as the scoreboard read 12-9 with Team USA trailing.
There is an old saying in business that applies to athletic competition as well – always be closing. Team USA finished strong in that Bronze Medal Game with Canada as they closed the contest with a 7-1 run to ensure the team would at least get on the podium.
Losing the first three games to rally back to claim a medal and nearly play for a gold is anything but a disappointing performance. Team USA has plenty to be proud of despite women’s basketball social media types looking for any reason to pile on Van Lith.
Van Lith was actually Team USA’s leading point-getter with six points. Hamby spearheaded the quartet’s rebounding efforts with six. Points-wise, Howard finished with four. Burdick and Hamby each concluded their games with three-point efforts.
On the Canadian end of the ledger, Katherine Plouffe concluded the contest with five points. Michelle Plouffe and Kacie Bosch each tallied three. The twin sisters Plouffe combined for 11 of Team Canada’s 15 boards with Michelle grabbing six and Katherine hauling in five.
As for the gold medal game between Germany and Spain it was a classic. The first three points of the contest were tallied by Germany, but midway through, things had turned in Spain’s direction. Spain had built a 10-6 advantage but Germany would rally to tie the contest up at 15 apiece with over a minute to play.
With thirty seconds remaining and gold medals up for grabs, Sonja Greinacher came through in the clutch with a huge two-point bucket to give Germany a 17-15 advantage. Spain’s Juana Camilion followed up with a one-point basket which made it a 17-16 game, but Germany managed to hold on and win this year’s 3×3 Olympic tournament.
Greinacher led the team scoring-wise with five points and she also added three rebounds to her gold medal-winning efforts. Germany threw a balanced scoring attack at Spain as Svenja Brunckhorst, Elisa Mevius and Marie Reichert each contributed four to the German cause. Brunckhorst’s game also included four rebounds.
A silver medal is nothing to be ashamed of. There is an easy way to not win silver – do not qualify for the Gold Medal Game.
Camilion would finish with six points while Gracia Alonso De Armiño contributed five to Spain’s efforts. Vega Gimeno added four points as well as four rebounds. It was a three-rebound showing for Sandra Ygueravide.
