2012 USA Basketball Women’s And Men’s 3x3 U18 World Championship Teams Claim Gold, Silver Medals, Respectively

Sept. 30, 2012

• Men's Results
• Women's Results
• All Medalists

The 2012 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship concluded Sunday evening as the USA 3x3 U18 women (7-1) collected the gold medal with a 21-13 victory over host Spain (7-1), and the USA 3x3 men (8-2) were edged by Serbia (10-0), 21-20, in overtime of the gold medal game and earned the silver medal outside of the José Caballero Sports Centre in Alcobendas, Spain.

France’s (9-2) men took bronze with a 19-11 victory over Canada (8-2), while Australia’s (7-1) women defeated Italy (6-2) 16-14 for the bronze.

In the women’s gold medal game, Spain struck first, but the U.S. went up 4-3 early and never again trailed. The USA women pulled away 10-5 before going up 14-8 and cruising through to the eventual victory.

“It feels great,” said Diamond DeShields (Norcross H.S./Norcross, Ga.), who now has FIBA U17, 3x3 U18 and U19 World Championship gold medals. “The feeling never gets old. You’re a world champion of multiple competitions. It never feels the same. It’s a different feeling because you work differently in each tournament, so I’m just really excited. I’m so happy that we got another gold medal.”   

The men’s game was a much closer affair that see-sawed for the first half of the contest. With the U.S. up 11-10, however, Serbia strung together five unanswered points to take a 15-11 lead. The American men fought back and took a 17-16 lead late in the game. From there the score was knotted three times, including a Rondaé Hollis-Jefferson (Chester H.S./Chester, Pa.) buzzer-beating bucket that sent the game into overtime with score tied 19-all.

“It just came down to toughness,” said Hollis-Jefferson following the gold medal game. “They were a good team, but it just seemed like we didn’t fight until we were down. Being down one with like two seconds left, I just had one mindset. I had to get the basket.”

Hollis-Jefferson threw down a dunk to put the U.S. on top 20-19 and in need of one more point to clinch the gold medal as the first team to score two points in overtime earns the victory. However, Serbia heaved up a shot from beyond the arc that banked in, giving the Serbs the 21-20 win and gold medal.

“The women came out strong today and ran through all their competition,” said Travis Johnson, USA Basketball 3x3 Programs Director. “It was obviously tougher competition today than yesterday, but they didn’t get back. They came out and fought all the way through to the end. They went ahead against Spain and didn’t look back and came away with the gold.

“Serbia is a big, big team and they had two inches over all of our guys,” said Johnson regarding the men’s gold medal opponents. “They’re very versatile and can shoot as well. They were very strong the whole game, but we were in there scratching and clawing and were in there with them the whole game. When we went into overtime, Rondaé (Hollis-Jefferson) had a massive dunk that looked like it energized the whole team. When they got the ball back, they looked like nothing was going to stop them. The Serbia guy got the ball, stepped behind the line and threw up a prayer that got answered, so we ended up with silver. But going from eighth last year to second place is a six-place jump and it’s good for these guys. To come out of here with a 8-2 record, I told them they shouldn’t hold their heads down whatsoever.”

Earlier in the day, the USA 3x3 U18 women advanced to the final after knocking off Estonia (4-3) 21-10 in the quarterfinals and eventual bronze medalist Australia 21-13 in the semifinals; while the USA 3x3 U18 men defeated Estonia (6-3) 21-18 in the quarters and Canada 17-13 in the semifinals en route to the gold medal game.

In addition to DeShields, the USA 3x3 women’s team includes: Kaela Davis (Buford H.S./Suwanee, Ga.), Erica McCall (Ridgeview H.S./Bakersfield, Calif.) and Brianna Turner (Manvel H.S./Pearland, Texas).

Completing the men’s team are: Larry Austin (Lanphier H.S./Springfield, Ill.), Brett Brady (Highlands Ranch H.S./Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and DeMonte Flannigan (Villa Angela-St. Joseph H.S. / Richmond Heights, Ohio).

The 2012 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship for Men featured 32 teams divided into four groups of eight, while the women’s tournament featured 24 teams divided into four groups of six. Following round-robin preliminary play The top team from each group earned a berth into the quarterfinals, while the No. 2 and No. 3 finishing teams will played one game to advance four teams to the quarterfinals. From there, the tournament continued in a standard knockout format.

The 3x3 U18 World Championship events also included individual skills challenges and a mixed tournament. The skills competitions included a 3-point shootout, dunk contest and a “2 Ball” contest in which each person from a team of two athletes must shoot from five different positions on the court in a 60-second span.

Hollis-Jefferson earned the bronze in the dunk contest, which was won by Germany’s Terry Thomas, while Martin Jurtom of Estonia took the silver and Cyril Baechler (Switzerland) came in fourth and was also awarded a bronze medal. France defeated Switzerland 21-12 for the mixed gold medal, while Lithuania and Spain were awarded bronze medals. In the “2 Ball” contest, Germany’s team of Johannes Joos and Robert Zinn took gold; Spain’s Borja Mendia and Ariadna Pujol earned the silver; while bronze medals were won by Aleks Correia Semedo and Gillian Boldewyn of the Netherlands, and Romania’s Vlad Stoicoviciu and Andrei Damian.The 3-point shootout gold medal was won by Treevanne Moses of Belize, followed by Polan’ds Monika Naczk with the silver, and the bronze medals went Justinas Gecas of Lithuania and Elisa Penna of Italy.

This marks the second annual FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship. In the inaugural event, dubbed the 2011 FIBA 3x3 Youth World Championship, the USA women finished with a 7-2 record and earned an honorary bronze medal after having to forfeit the bronze medal game due to injuries. The 2011 USA 3x3 U18 men went 7-5 and finished in eighth place. Spain’s women and New Zealand’s men claimed the inaugural gold medals.

Additional Quotes >> 2012 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship Day 3

Kaela Davis (Buford H.S./Suwanee, Ga.)
How did it feel when the gold medal was placed around your neck?
The feeling never gets old. It was a good experience to be able to come out and win the (U18) 3x3 (World Championship), especially after what happened last year. But like I said, it never gets old. It’ll always be a great feeling.

Last year at the U18 3x3 World Championship you had to forfeit the bronze medal game due to injuries and were awarded an honorary bronze medal. Do you feel a little redemption after coming back and what emotions went through your head when you received the gold medal today?
Last year, being so close, it was hard. But, you can’t change what happened. No matter what, it was a really great experience and I had a ton of fun last year. But, this year I came back and had a really good reason to come back and play for the gold medal.

What was it like winning a second world championship gold medal with three of your teammates from the USA U17 World Championship Team?
Definitely. I think it proves a lot that we can come back and win the gold. Obviously three-on-three is a lot different than playing with a 12-member team, but it kind of shows that we have a lot of team chemistry. It was good to come back and be able to win it with them.

Diamond DeShields (Norcross H.S./Norcross, Ga.)
How does it feel to win your fourth gold medal in international competition?
It feels great. The feeling never gets old. You’re a world champion of multiple competitions. It never feels the same. It’s a different feeling because you work differently in each tournament, so I’m just really excited. I’m so happy that we got another gold medal.

How is the 3x3 game different from playing a regular game of basketball?
As far as the atmosphere, usually the arenas are pretty loud with drums and stuff. But in three-on-three there’s a deejay, so there’s music playing all the time. As far as three-on-three is concerned, you look at the rules and it’s a 10-minute ballgame being played to 21. You think, ‘oh, that’s not too hard.’ But within the first two minutes, you’re asking for a sub. It’s pretty physically demanding. It’s very hard and you really have to learn the fundamentals of playing team defense and learn how to play one-on-one better.

What can you take from this tournament that might help you in your upcoming season?
I definitely think guarding on the perimeter, that was one of the things that was crucial throughout the tournament. So, in regards to five-on-five, being able to guard on the perimeter is one thing I’ll be able to take back and be better at it.

Erica McCall (Ridgeview H.S./Bakersfield, Calif.)
How did it feel when the gold medal was placed around your neck?
It was great, especially knowing that we worked really hard for it and it was a great experience.

Was it a different feeling from when you won the FIBA U17 World Championship earlier this summer?
It was totally different for me. I feel like I had more responsibility playing three-on-three. It’s a lot more intense. I think that I worked really, really hard for this one, as compared to the U17 where I didn’t get as much playing time as I did on three-on-three. So, it was a little more special for me because of that.

What was the atmosphere like?
It was a crazy atmosphere. The music was always going and people were always cheering. Playing inside was more like five-on-five, but playing outside in the three-on-three was really different. You had to get used to the outside court. There were so many things going on at once, it was a whole different atmosphere.

Brianna Turner (Manvel H.S./Pearland, Texas)
How did it feel when the gold medal was placed around your neck?
It felt really great, because we worked hard for every game, especially the championship.

What was it like winning a second world championship gold medal with three of your teammates from the USA U17 World Championship Team?
It was pretty unbelievable. I didn’t expect this to be happening again. It was really fun.

What was the atmosphere like there, especially playing outside?
It was pretty good. I thought it would be hard because of the wind and the heat and stuff. They had a few bugs in the beginning. But, as the day went on it got cooler. It was really great playing outside.

Larry Austin (Lanphier H.S./Springfield, Ill.)
How did you feel about your team’s performance overall this weekend?
Pretty good. All of us played pretty good. We played hard. I thought we all did pretty good, actually.

On the gold medal game:
We were down in the game, but we kept fighting back. They hit a lot of threes (worth two points in 3x3). We fought badk and were up by one, but we had some fouls and they knocked down some free throws. Then Rondaé had a basket to get into overtime.  Then he got a dunk in overtime, but they hit a long bank-shot three to win it.

I realize you were hoping for the gold medal, but to win a silver at a world championship is still a good accomplishment:
It was all right. I was really looking for the gold. Hopefully next time.

Brett Brady (Highlands Ranch H.S./Highlands Ranch, Colo.)
On playing Serbia in the gold medal game:
It was a tough game overall. They knocked down shots and made it tough to defend them.

I realize you were hoping for the gold medal, but to win a silver at a world championship is still a good accomplishment:
It’s a great accomplishment. We really wanted to have won gold, but there’s some things that you can’t help in the game. I think we played tough. We got a lot of good experience from it.

How can you translate this experience into the five-on-five game?
I think playing at this fast of a pace and against this good competition, being able to be more aggressive and being able to show what I can do for the team. 

Rondaé Hollis-Jefferson (Chester H.S./Chester, Pa.)
I realize you were hoping for the gold medal, but to win a silver at a world championship, especially after finishing in eighth place last year, is still a good accomplishment:
It is. It still hurts, but there’s nothing we can do about it.

On the gold medal game’s final basket:
It just came down to toughness. They were a good team, but it just seemed like we didn’t fight until we were down. Being down one with like two seconds left, I just had one mindset. I had to get the basket.  

On Serbia’s game-winning shot:
He was like three or four steps behind the line. He wasn’t even looking at the basket. It was crazy. He just prayed that it went in when he threw it up.

On the dunk contest:
The dunks I did, I got an alley-oop from Kaela (Davis) in the audience and I jumped over Larry (Austin). The other kids did some other stuff like windmills.

What did you learn from this experience that can help you next season?
Never taking a play off, playing physical at all times and encouraging your teammates. I realized that was a big part of the game.

How was the experience for you this weekend?
Overall, it was just a great experience.

DeMonte Flannigan (Villa Angela-St. Joseph H.S. / Richmond Heights, Ohio)
What did you think about the U18 3x3 World Championship overall?
It was a good turnout. It as good as I expected it to be. All the teams were strong and really good. It was competitive the whole time. It wasn’t about just one person. It was about what team played the hardest the whole game.

What was the competition like?
It was really good. Teams were really tough. Every team that we played, we had to play our hardest for the whole game. The competition was really good.

What did you learn from this experience?
I learned that to play hard the whole time. In three-on-three you can easily fall behind if you’re not paying attention. When you have five players, sometimes you can relax and it won’t hurt you. But, in three-on-three you have to always be on the watch for everything. You really have to be a good basketball player and a student of the game, because if not, then you’re going to get beat. You have to play hard every time you’re on the court.