US basketball 3x3 teams go separate ways
The United States didn’t make it to the quarterfinals in the men's basketball 3x3 competition at Buenos Aires 2018, but the women’s team won the two games they played on Friday and finished at the top of their group. Now, they are going for the gold, a feat they achieved at Nanjing 2014.
Despite their triumph over Argentina in the second game of the day on Thursday, the United States men’s basketball 3x3 team failed to advance to the quarterfinals at Buenos Aires 2018, which came as a surprise to fans and players since the North American country is one of the global powerhouses in the sport.
The United States women’s team performance, on the other hand, was in line with predictions and, with two comfortable victories at Urban Park on Friday, they finished at the top of Group B and will play in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, October 16.
The US women’s team, who took the gold medal at Nanjing 2014, showed their skills in two great games, first beating Egypt by 21-4 and later Ukraine 21-9. Aliyah Boston was the top scorer in both matches, getting 8 points in each.
With their two victories on Friday, the US team finished undefeated in the preliminary round of the tournament, matching what Hungary had achieved on Thursday and consolidating its name among the top medal contenders at the third summer edition of the Youth Olympic Games. Argentina, Mexico and Australia can still achieve a 4-0 track record in the preliminary round, as none of them have lost so far and they all have remaining games in the next two days.
In Group C, Ukraine also got a ticket to the quarterfinals after winning 18-6 against Sri Lanka, with Anna Suhak adding 8 points to the scoreboard. Venezuela, which lost 16-15 to Egypt after beating Sri Lanka 21-10, finished third in the group and was eliminated.
The United States women’s team is the favourite to take the gold at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games because it was the champion of the U-18 World Cup held in China last year. While they are competing with a different set of players in Buenos Aires, the team started at full power and already reaffirmed their leadership in the sport.