(L to R): Katherine Plouffe, Michelle Plouffe, Mariah Nunes, and Paige Crozon made up the gold medal winning team in Prague, Czech Republic.  (submitted photo/3x3 World Series)

By Mat Barrett

Crozon Captures Gold

Crozon, Team Canada capture first 3×3 World Series gold

Aug 7, 2019 | 2:41 PM

Humboldt’s Paige Crozon now has a gold medal.

Crozon and her 3×3 Women’s Series basketball team won their first tour stop on August 2 and 3 in Prague, Czech Republic, going a perfect 5-0 through the weekend.

“I feel great about our first World Series tournament win.” Crozon told northeastNOW. “We are really starting to connect on the court and have continually improved from one stop to the next.”

Crozon scored 15 points through the five-game tournaments, but she said she’d like to see a few more shots from distance go down.

“Personally, I would have liked a few more of my three-pointers to fall but just have to remain positive,” she said.

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The stop was Team Canada’s fourth tournament on the World Series. After finishes of fourth, second, and third, Crozon said things finally came together at the Prague stop for the team that featured Michelle and Katherine Plouffe of Edmonton, and Mariah Nunes of Ajax, Ontario, as well as Crozon.

“There were a few factors that contributed to our success in this tournament and in the past,” Crozon said. “Those reasons being our defence and rebounding.”

Team Canada led the tournament in rebounds with 117, and allowed only 12.4 points per game, good for second among the participants.

Pool play gave Crozon and her team meetings against Spain, Belarus, and Hungary. After going 3-0 in those games, the Canadians got a bye into the semifinals where they beat Russia to earn a spot in the gold medal game, where Poland was standing in their way.

The Canadians took an early lead in the final, but let their opponents back into the game before battling out a 19-14 win. Crozon called it a ‘scrappy’ game.

The Canadians now sit 28th in the overall world rankings as they try to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Crozon and her team started the year ranked 100th, and were 40th before the win over the weekend. They are ranked second among the World Series, just behind France. Crozon said she feels like the 3×3 game is growing, and they hope it continues.

“It has been an unbelievable experience so far,” she said. “The 3×3 game is rapidly gaining popularity in Europe and I hope the same will happen in Canada.

“This past weekend in Prague we played in front of a packed stadium in the heart of the city. Each tournament is so unique and I feel very fortunate to travel to such beautiful cities.”

Next up for Crozon and Team Canada is a tournament in Bucharest, Romania as part of the World Series where they hope to get some more wins against tough competition. That will be followed by a few tournaments on home soil as they’ll play tournaments in Montreal and Edmonton.

“I’m so excited for the opportunity to play at home,” Crozon said. “And hope to put on a good show for our country.”

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6