Arinn Young scores 31 points to lead Canada past Australia 82-74 in overtime

HAMBURG — Make it two straight wins for the Canadian women’s squad at the World Wheelchair Basketball Championships.

Arinn Young led the way with 31 points and 15 rebounds as Canada improved to 2-1 with a 82-74 win in overtime against Australia on Sunday.

Cindy Ouellet of Quebec City added 21 points, while Rosalie Lalonde of Saint-Clet, Que., and Tamara Steeves of Mississauga, Ont., had 14 and 13 points, respectively.

“That will be one of the all-time favourite basketball games I will ever play in. I’ve never felt so confident in my teammates. And I just think that was such a good family win. All of us fully took part in that game and came together to pull it off,” said Young.

Cobi Crispin paced Australia with 19 points and 11 boards. Annabelle Lindsay and Amber Merritt both had 18 points apiece.

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After trailing for most of the game, Australia pulled ahead for the first time with one minute remaining in the fourth quarter, but Young, who hails from Legal, Alta., nailed a game-tying three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining.

Australia retook the lead with six seconds remaining, but fouled Melanie Hawtin of Oakvile, Ont., who made one of two free throws to force overtime.

“The coaches did a good job of helping us keep our calm. The whole bench never got too stressful — never too high or too low — so when Mel made that free throw we were ready and knew that we could go on and do what we needed in the extra time,” said Ouellet.

Canada outscored Australia 14-6 in overtime to come away with the win.

Canada is slated to face the Netherlands on Tuesday.   

In men’s action, Nikola Goncin came off the bench late in the first quarter to score a game-high 26-points and six assists for Canada in a 78-61 win over Germany.

Patrick Anderson also put up a triple-double of 24 points, 15 boards and 10 assists.

Aliaksandr Halouski led Germany with 12 points and 11 rebounds, Jan Christoph Gans had 11 points and Andre Bienek and Jan Haller both chipped in 10.

With the victory, the Canadian team moved to 2-0, tying them for first in Pool A with Iran.

“Every game in the round robin is important, but getting a win tonight to solidify the No. 1 or No. 2 spot in the pool is awesome,” said Bo Hedges of Wonowon, B.C.

Down 25-22 with three minutes left in the first half, Goncin of Regina, Sask., and Anderson of Fergus, Ont., combined for three consecutive three-pointers as Canada went on an 11-point run to regain the lead. They never trailed again.

“We knew that they were going to come out hard. They lost yesterday to a really tough team,” said Goncin.

“Obviously, they don’t want to lose twice in a row so this was a do-or-die game for them,” said Goncin. “Our plan was to grind it through until we could get a breakthrough and fortunately that came for us late in the second quarter.”

Next up for the Canadian men is Iran, who they will face Monday.

The Canadian Press