(Submitted photo/Paige Crozon)

By Ben Tompkins

Home Soil Victories

Team Canada wins third-consecutive stop, Humboldt native shooting for back-to-back world championships

Aug 30, 2023 | 4:34 PM

Team Canada has been dominant this past month, pulling off a three-peat in recent stops on the 3×3 Women’s Series.

Part of their success has been tied to Humboldt native and sharpshooter Paige Crozon, who has been with the group for two of those three victories, which were both on home soil.

“We’re really grateful for every win we’ve been able to pull off this season, the level of competition in the women’s series is so high and it’s always such a grind and such a fight, even make it to the finals,” Crozon told northeastNOW.

“To be able to have three victories in a row, four total in the season, we’re really happy with our progress and hope that we can finish our season out with two more wins, one being the women’s series final in the middle of September.”

The most recent win came in Quebec, with Canada edging out Team USA U24, 21-19 in the finals. Prior to that, it was victories in Prague and Edmonton respectively.

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(submitted photo/Paige Crozon)

Crozon mentioned playing in Canada has been a huge boost for them, and they’ve clearly taken advantage of it.

“The travel of the women’s series is so gruelling, whether it’s to Europe or Asia, sometimes on a four-day road trip. So, to be able to be at home and have a bit of a shorter flight or a bit of a shorter travel day, we’re very fortunate for that, not to mention the amazing support that we’ve received from Canadian fans,” she added.

“It’s always such a proud moment to be able to share those victories with our family, friends and people that kind of support us every single day throughout the year. To be able to have them in the crowd watching and cheering is really meaningful to all of our team.”

At the time of the win in Quebec, Canada ranked fourth overall among all the countries that have competed in the women’s series this year.

Canada has been playing with a much smaller pool of players than most countries, however, and only needs to be in the top seven (plus host team Mongolia) to be a part of the finals.

They will play on Canadian hardwood once more this year (in Montreal), which will be the final stop before the finals.

“I think the four of us that have competed in the majority of the stops, so kind of resting and recovering is a priority right now. Competing that much and with the travel that we’ve had this summer, I feel like we’re all a little bit fatigued, so we’re kind of in the recovery phase right now,” Crozon explained.

“This is great timing for us to be able to kind of wind our women’s series down at home, with the travel just being a huge advantage for us leading into the final. It’s just making sure we get our bodies prepped and ready, and we’ll have a few practices together again to find that chemistry and find that flow before we compete in Montreal.”

The French Canadian visit is also the last stop this group of four will do in general this year before they hope to defend their crown and title, walking off 2023 as back-to-back World Champions.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8