FINAL STANDINGS 1. CANADA 2. Cuba 3. Puerto Rico 4. Argentina 5. Chile | CANADIANS Merlelynn Lange-Harris (Port Severn, Ont.) Dianne Norman (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) Shawna Molcak (Cardston, Alta.) Sue Stewart (Toronto, Ont.) Cynthia Johnston (Calgary, Alta.) Bev Smith (Armstrong, B.C.) Andrea Blackwell (Calgary, Alta.) Kelly Boucher (Calgary, Alta.) Jodi Evans (Calgary, Alta.) Martina Jerant (Windsor, Ont.) Karla Karch (Vancouver, B.C.) Camille Thompson (Salmon Arm, B.C.) Peter Ennis – coach |
ROUND ROBIN | CAN | CUB | PUR | ARG | CHI | Record | ||
Cuba | 86-83 | —– | 96-43 | 94-61 | 107-41 | (4-0) | ||
Canada | —– | 83-86 | 97-46 | 82-39 | 91-42 | (3-1) | ||
Puerto Rico | 46-97 | 43-96 | —– | 67-48 | 73-62 | (2-2) | ||
Argentina | 39-82 | 61-94 | 48-67 | —– | 66-64 | (1-3) | ||
Chile | 42-91 | 41-107 | 62-73 | 64-66 | —– | (0-4) | ||
semi | Canada 70 Puerto Rico 41 | |
semi | Cuba 90 Argentina 32 | |
Final | Canada 80 Cuba 73 | |
The tournament had originally been scheduled to be held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. But they withdrew and COPABA approached Canada to host the tournament June 22-29 at McMaster University in Hamilton.
In Dec-94, Kathy Shields signs a contract to coach national women’s team through 1996 Olympics. Former national team player and subsequently coach at Victoria. “I feel some commitment to the athletes who have been involved for a long time. No Question it was a tough decision but I was concerned there were some long-time committed athletes in the program and they didn’t need the upheaval of another new coach coming in,” she said about her decision to simultaneously remain at the Victoria helm.
In the run-up to the Atlanta Olympics, head coach Kathy Shields resigns along with assistant Chris Critelli from Brock University, in protest of a Basketball Canada decision not to locate the national team in one centre for training heading into the Games, as the organization had promised. Basketball Canada executive-director Rick Traer said financial constraints prevented the move. Several members of the team, led by veteran Bev Smith, Critelli and Sylvia Sweeney say they’ll form a Canadian Basketball Player’s Association to represent player’s interests in decisions by the national governing body. The 35-year-old Smith said the association should not be misconstrued as a union. “We really don’t have a lot to strike for. We’re not trying to attain, through the association, million-dollar salaries and free agency and what not. We’re just trying to get a coach and a gym and a ball and provide that for everyone. That’s where we’re going to start from.” Basketball Canada said it had little choice but to renege on the promise, as the federal government had announced that it was cutting funding to the organization by 30% or about $310,000. A further cut of 12.5% was slated for 1996.
In April-95, Laurentian’s Peter Ennis, an assistant since 1989, was named head coach, less than three months before the qualifying tournament. A 17-year vet with the Voyageurs, Ennis says “the best thing for everybody will be to get a routine started, get into camp and start going through the everyday camp things we do.” Ennis replaces Kathy Shields, who resigned in March in protest of Basketball Canada reneging on commitment to a centralized training program. Ennis was an assistant with national team at 1990 Goodwill Games, 1992 Olympic qualifying tournament, 1993 world qualifying tournament and 1994 words, where Canada finished seventh. Head coach of the national junior team from 1990-92 and the World University Games team in 1993.
In exhibition matches just before the tournament, captain Jodi Evans hurt her shoulder. She missed the first two games of the tournament.
In their opener, Canada, ranked seventh in the world, routed Chile 91-42. The Canadians led 7-0 and 44-20 at halftime. Canada was dominant, bigger, quicker, more disciplined. Bev Smith paced Canada with 16. Kelly Boucher added 15 and Shawna Molcak 12. The first half was a clinic. Smith hit a pair from beyond the arc as Canada moved ahead 11-2. Canada moved ahead 19-11 and then closed out the first half with a 25-9 run. “When you put a team out there, it’s your handiwork; you’re always looking for perfection,” said coach Peter Ennis. “I always worry when we don’t play up to the level we’re capable of, and I worry about the team developing bad habits.” The tempo and outcome of the game was decided from the opening tip as Canada scored the first seven points and never looked back. The smaller and less- disciplined Chileans were no match for the home team’s experienced starting five of Bev Smith, Andrea Blackwell, Karla Karch, Shawna Molcak and Cynthia Johnston. “At other qualification tournaments we’ve played in, it was on more of a global scale,” said Smith, the team’s captain. “Now we have to focus on only four teams and we have too much riding on it to see this as a formality.” Chile’s coach Aldo Cereceda said his team was not prepared for Canada’s aggressive style of play.
Canada then pummeled Puerto Rico 97-46. Puerto Rico had jumped out early by a 20-13 margin but then guard Damaris Colon went out with a knee injury and Canada rallied from its early lethargy and timidity. Led by Sue Stewart, Canada put on a 22-3 rally on hot outside shooting to take a 35-23 lead and never looked back. Andrea Blackwell scored 18, Stewart 13, Martina Jerant 13, all on free throws, Cynthia Johnston 11 and Shawna Molcak 11. Canada started slow on defence and tentative on offence and Puerto Rico shot the lights out for the first seven minutes. But they turned it around with excellent perimeter shooting and tougher defence. “We just felt that as soon as we turned the corner and got up two or three points, everything would fall into place and that’s what happened,” said coach Peter Ennis. “I think we started a little casual, a little tight. Defensively, we just didn’t play the way we usually do. The shots were there, though, we just weren’t hitting them.” Cuban assistant Victor Coll said Colon’s injury proved the difference. “The injury to Damaris took our minds off the game. That was the key factor.” Colon led Cuba with 15.
Canada then dropped an 86-83 decision to Cuba, ranked sixth in the world. Canada was unable to shut down 6-5 centre Yamilet Martinez, who hit for 25. Canada’s Shawna Molcak twice hit the front of the rim from three-point land in the final five seconds, as the game came within inches of going into overtime. Key foul shots made by Cuba and missed by Canada in the final minutes proved to be the difference. “There’s no question we had the intensity and the purpose tonight; we just didn’t get the details right,” said Canadian head coach Peter Ennis. The intensity and tempo were there from the outset, as both teams showed why they are the class of this tournament and ranked No. 6 (Cuba) and 7 in the world. “It was not a definitive game,” said Cuba coach Miguel del Rio. “It was a tactical game from both sides.” A couple of nice passing plays opened up an early 8-4 Canada advantage, but the Cubans then scored eight straight to grab the lead, which they never relinquished for the rest of the first half. However, any time Cuba threatened to run away with it, Canada responded, particularly with two key three-pointers by Kelly Boucher, who had 14 points in the half and finished with 17, as did Bev Smith. Molcak added 16. Boucher’s efforts were matched by Cuba’s Tania Seino from the outside and Yamilet Martinez from the inside, who scored 25 of their team’s 48 first-half points. Canada finally regained the lead at 61-60 seven minutes into the second half, as some of the bad bounces and bad calls finally went their way. The Canadians even took a 70-64 lead as Smith nailed a trey before Cuba battled back to tie at 76, leading to a rollercoaster final five minutes with both teams trading their best punches. Cuban guard Milaida Enrique scored her only points of the second half when she hit two free throws with a minute to go to lead 84-83 and Molcak’s trey at the buzzer hit the rim, allowing Cuba to escape with the win.
Against Argentina, Canada looked flat but prevailed 82-39. Argentina was missing most of its regular roster due to monetary problems but Canada still looked sluggish. They held a slender 9-7 lead after six minutes when a clearly frustrated Ennis called a timeout. The team responded a bit after that, but did not show signs of pulling away until two successive breakaway layups by Sue Stewart late in the first half loosened the collars a bit, giving them a 39-25 lead at the break. A second wake-up call, this one at halftime, seemed to have a bigger effect, as Canada reeled off 10 straight points and virtually cruised the rest of the way, again distributing the workload throughout the team. Shawna Molcak led Canada with 14, while Stewart and strong rebounder Dianne Norman each added 12 and Cynthia Johnston 11. Sandra Ibarra led Argentina with 12.
In the semis, Canada thumped Puerto Rico 70-41 to guarantee an Olympic berth. “You can’t describe the feeling because we have had a history in which we failed,” said Karch. “It hasn’t hit me yet.” Canada had failed to qualify previous two Olympics. “(We) have been waiting since 1984 to redeem ourselves,” said Smith. “Karla is one of the players I am so proud of because she has been through 1988 and 1992 and never gave up.” Canada jumped out to a 33-19 on Stewart’s hot shooting 4-8, 12 points. She finished with 16. “The message was simple: we had an achievable dream and nothing on or off the court was going to stop us,” Ennis said. “We stayed true to our goal and never strayed from it.” Karch said “you can’t describe the feeling because we have had a history in which we failed. It hasn’t hit me yet.” Canada qualified for the Olympics for first time since 1984. “We have been waiting since 1984 to redeem ourselves,” said Bev Smith. “Karla is one of the players I am so proud of because she has been through 1988 and 1992 and never gave up.” Canada jumped out to a 33-19 lead on aggressive drives of Stewart, who finished with 16 points. Benibel Carrio led Puerto Rico with 13. Canada held Damaris Colon to just three points.
In the final, Canada defeated Cuba 80-73. Canada hit everything it threw up early in the game to race out to a 27-11 lead. But Cuba switched to a full-court press and the Canadian guards buckled under the pressure. Cuba score 22 straight points to take a 35-29 lead. Cuba was up by seven at the half, 45-32. Stewart caught fire in the second half, hitting seven straight to put Canada back in the lead 73-69. The Canadians stretched the margin to seven by the final buzzer. Stewart finished with 17 points, 12 in them during the 24-4 second half run. Down the stretch, Cuba’s Dalia Henry was called for travelling on a potential three-point play with 1:06 remaining that would have cut Canada’s five-point lead to two. It killed Cuba’s chances of a comeback. “One of my roles on this team is to be a motivator and be an offensive impact coming off the bench,” said Stewart. “It was a dream game for me. We wanted to beat them, definitely. They game went our way, I guess, too quickly in the first couple minutes and then it sort of slipped away from us.” Bev Smith said “I think they expended a lot of energy going up on us and I think we made them pay for it in the second half. We just kept going at them.” Smith finished with 10 points. Jodi Evans called it “an emotional roller coaster, up and down. We came out really tough to start and then they put on some pressure that really rattled us and we started playing tender. Yarmilet Martinez led Cuba with 18 points. Head coach Peter Ennis said “for a game that was basically supposed to be fun to play, I couldn’t believe the roller coaster ride that we went on.”