The Edmonton Inferno has captured the 2018 Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League (CWBL) women's national championship at the Richmond Olympic Oval after defeating Team Quebec, 58-55 in Sunday’s title game.
Edmonton seized the momentum early by making a few nice shots, including a deep three from Arinn Young at the buzzer. The second quarter saw Quebec dictating the tempo with Élodie Tessier getting a few offensive rebounds and Quebec putting up some solid defense. A steal from Cindy Ouellet resulted in Quebec taking their first lead of the game with three minutes left in the second quarter.
An intense third quarter saw multiple lead changes, but Edmonton just pulled ahead by two points, with a score of 41-39 at the end of the third.
In a decisive fourth quarter, it was back and forth until the very last minute. Cindy Ouellet took a three with 11 seconds left to try to tie the game, but just misses. As a result, Edmonton claims the gold, while Quebec settled for silver with a final score of 58-55.
Arinn Young remained a powerhouse throughout the entire tournament and it was no different in the final game as she scored a team high of 21 points for Edmonton.
"It was a hard fought game against Quebec who has four Paralympic athletes on their team," says Karla Tritten of Edmonton Inferno. "It came down to managing emotions, being patient, and trusting your teammates."
It was bittersweet for Tritten as this was her last game after a 30-year career. She retires with a gold medal around her neck.
In the bronze medal game, both the Saskatchewan Hot Wheels and the BC Breakers came out strong.
It was a seesaw battle between the two clubs in the first two quarters, but Saskatchewan soared ahead in the third en route to a 70-48 win. Erica Gavel dropped a team-high of 29 points for Saskatchewan, while Amanda Yan put up 14 points for B.C. and was named to the tournament all-star team.
Richmond native Katie Miyazaki, who now resides in Saskatchewan, also earned all-star honours. The Hugh Boyd grad took her hoop career to the prairies where she earned All-Canadian honours in her final year at the University of Saskatchewan back in 2012.
The three-day tournament was co-hosted by Wheelchair Basketball Canada and BC Wheelchair Basketball Society (BCWBS) and featured the top female club teams in the country.
