HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Achol Akot, Cassandre Prosper spark Canada to World Cup women’s U19 basketball bronze medal

By Martin Cleary

Capital Courts Academy grads Cassandre Prosper and Achol Akot saw the FIBA Women’s U19 World Cup bronze-medal game in Madrid from two different perspectives.

But in the end they were there to celebrate the second time Canada had won the bronze under head coach Carly Clarke. The first time was in 2017.

Canada stormed back from an 11-point deficit and needed overtime to turn back France 80-73 to survive the third-place match. Syla Swords of Sudbury led the Canadian charge throughout with 26 points, six rebounds and six assists.

After being a significant contributor and leading scorer for Canada in its first six games, Prosper missed the bronze-medal game because of an undisclosed injury.

Prosper, who enrolled last December at the University of Notre Dame and was a key contributor for the Fighting Irish in the 2023 portion of their schedule, played almost 24 minutes a game in the World Cup. She averaged 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.8 blocked shots a game.

Akot received more floor time for the medal game and used it to her advantage. In 22 minutes and 31 seconds, she hit two of her three field-goal attempts and six of 10 free throws for a World Cup personal-best 10 points along with six rebounds and two assists.

Overall, Akot averaged 14.8 minutes, 2.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists a game.

In the bronze-medal game overtime, Akot had four rebounds and one free throw, which gave Canada a 78-73 lead.

Canada came close to playing in the gold-medal game against the United States, but dropped its semifinal 77-70 to Spain. The host country held a slim 69-68 lead for most of the final 2:05 of the fourth quarter.

In the final 13 seconds, Spain added eight free throws against one field goal by Canada.

Prosper counted 11 points and two rebounds in 25:21 of floor time against Spain, while Akot played 16:02 and recorded two points and four rebounds.

MAX CORCORAN WINS QUEBEC BOYS’ JUNIOR GOLF TITLE IN PLAYOFF

Max Corcoran of the Loch March Golf Club defeated Antoine Jasmine of Blainville with exceptional putting over two playoff holes to win the Quebec boys’ junior golf championship in Trois-Rivières.

The fourth and final round of the 72-hole championship was cancelled because of inclement weather. But during a break in the weather, Quebec Golf officials had Corcoran and Jasmin stage their playoff, after they were tied at the 54-hole mark at one-under-par 215.

Corcoran posted scores of 75-73-67, while Jasmin followed an opposite course, but kept pace at 68-73-74.

Ottawa Hunt’s Ben Sheridan tied for eighth place with a 54-hole total of five-over 221 from rounds of 75-74-72. Atlas Ibit of Camelot was among the overall leaders after 36 holes, but finished tied for 10th among the juniors and fourth in the juvenile class. He fired rounds of 71-72-80 for a seven-over 223.

Rhett McLean of eQuinelle shared 13th place at 75-72-77-224 (eight over par) and Royal Ottawa’s Chase Jerome tied for 15th place with three rounds of 75 for 225 (nine over). Jerome was fifth in the juvenile standings.

ROWERS RACHEL WEBER, AIDAN HEMBRUFF PLACE WELL AT WORLDS

Ottawa Rowing Club athletes Rachel Weber and Aidan Hembruff posted top-10 results at the World U23 Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Sally Jones of Victoria City Rowing Club and Weber won the women’s pair B final, which earned them seventh place in the final standings. In the repechage race, they narrowly missed qualifying for the A final.

Hembruff joined University of British Columbia rowers Julian Black, Julien Wiese and Axel Washko to finish second in the men’s four B final, which gave them an overall result of eighth.

Canada won bronze medals in the men’s lightweight quad, women’s eight and women’s lightweight single.

TEAGAN ROY, KALIANE STERLING-GODUE WIN MVP AWARDS

The teamwork of quarterback Isabelle Berube of Corbeil and receiver Teagan Roy of Greely and St. Mark High School sparked Ontario Red to a 32-26 victory over Manitoba on the opening day of the National Women’s U18 Tackle Football Championship at Carleton University.

Roy’s receptions and touchdowns earned her the offensive MVP award for Ontario. The defensive MVP honour went to Kaliane Sterling-Godue of Embrun.

The national championship is being played under a 6-vs-6 player format. A dozen of the 22 players on the Ontario Red team are from Ottawa and area.

The Ontario Black squad, which has nine Ottawa and area players, scored a 70-0 win over the National Indigenous team, which was making its debut in the second annual national championship.

The semifinals in the Cummings and Harlow divisions are Wednesday. The bronze-medal games are slated for 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and the gold-medal matches are scheduled for 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Carleton University.

NATIONAL U18 FLAG FOOTBALL BRONZE FOR OTTAWA PLAYERS

Team Ontario defeated Nova Scotia 14-13 to win the bronze medal at the Canadian U18 Girls’ Flag Football Championship in Winnipeg.

The 10-player Ontario squad had six players from Ottawa (quarterback Sophie Franche, receivers Rayah Valcin-Joseph and Bridget Zavitske, centre Carmen Paice and defenders Maddy Gallinger and Shondreya Smardon) and one player from Munster (defender Chloe Cordick).

Ontario placed second after its Pool B preliminary games, defeating Manitoba West 32-7 and Manitoba East 33-6, but losing to Saskatchewan 18-9. In the playoffs, Ontario defeated Alberta 26-16 in the quarterfinals, but lost to Quebec 27-7 in the semifinals.

MICHAEL WOODS KNOWS HOW TO WIN, GO FAST IN TOUR DE FRANCE

Michael Woods of Ottawa has completed his fourth Tour de France and 10th Grand Tour feeling satisfied as well as being safe and sound.

The former prominent Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club middle-distance runner became the third Canadian to win a stage on the Tour two weeks ago, when he captured Stage 9 by 28 seconds. It was his first Tour de France win and third Grand Tour victory, after two in the Tour of Spain.

“I’m really proud of this victory. It is a career defining moment for me,” Woods said in an Israel-Premier Tech team press release. “This was my 10th Grand Tour and it has been one of the best Grand Tours I have done with a team. The staff were amazing, the morale was great and we raced super well.

“We were certainly one of the most aggressive teams and, were it not for a bit of bad luck, I think we could have had another win. The team rode exceptionally well throughout this Tour.”

Woods finished the Tour de France with three top-10 results, including a fifth-place showing in Stage 1 and a sixth in Stage 2. Overall, he was 11th in the Mountain Classification, 14th in the Points Classification and 48th in the General Classification.

In his 10 Grand Tours, Woods has seven top-three finishes – three first-place results, one second place and three third places.

During Saturday’s Stage 20, Woods was recorded by Global NTT at 110.1 kilometres an hour on one part of the course. It was the highest speed registered during the Tour.

“Not sure if I should be proud of this one,” Woods posted on Twitter.

CANADIAN WATER POLO TEAMS MISS MEDALS AT WORLD AQUATICS

The medal hunt is over for the Canadian women’s and men’s water polo teams at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

The Netherlands outscored Canada 17-10 in the women’s quarterfinals on Monday. Ottawa’s Jessica Gaudreault was Canadian goaltender.

Canada reached the Final Eight by finishing second in Group D at 2-1 and defeated South Africa 21-6 in its round-of-16 match. On Wednesday, Canada will play the United States in its first of two games to determine positions five through eight.

After finishing third in Group B at 1-2 and losing 13-10 to the United States, the Canadian men’s team has dropped to the classification round for positions nine through 12. The Canadian roster includes Bogdan Djerkovic of Ottawa and Gatineau players Aleksa Gardijan and David Lapins.

Canada will play Croatia on Tuesday in its first classification match.

LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST

· The Stittsville 56ers men’s U17 team defeated Hillsdale 12-11 in eight innings to win the Ontario Amateur Softball Association provincial B title in Grafton. The 56ers won all four games by one run each and saw three of their games stretch into extra innings.

· Micksburg Twins defeated East Hants Mastadons 6-1 to win the Carp Shootout fastball final. Tyler Branchaud slugged a home run for the Twins and pitcher Joran Graham picked up the win with relief from Kyle Linton. Joseph Mick of the Twins was named the Shootout’s MVP.

· Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club’s Kevin Robertson won the men’s U23 3,000-metre steeplechase by 5.71 seconds in nine minutes, 4.77 seconds at the NACAC U18/U23 athletics championships in San Jose, Costa Rica. Clubmate David Adeleye was fifth in the U23 men’s 110-metre hurdles in 14.13. In the men’s U18 competition, William Batley of C.A.N.I. Athletics was seventh in the 200 metres in 22.43, while Derek Strachan of the Lions placed second in the 2,000-metre steeplechase.

· Carlee Meilleur of Lansdowne, ON., shot a four-over par 75 and is tied for 17th place, after the first round of the 68th Canadian Junior Girls’ Golf Championship in Hampton, N.B. Nepean’s Antonia Ho and Quebec women’s/junior/juvenile champion Ann-Sophie Bourgault of Gatineau share 31st at 77, while Ottawa’s Sophie Foulds is tied in 45th at 79.

· Christopher Perkins of Athens, ON., who won a bronze medal at the 2022 World Games in archery, has been named the winner of Archery Canada’s Frank Jones Male Athlete of the Year Award.