(SANTIAGO, CHILE) – The Senior Women’s National Team took silver at the Parapan American Games after dropping a 62-56 decision to the United States on Friday at the Parapan American Games.

“Obviously, super disappointed. I thought we played well. I thought we played, communicated, had good teamwork – some of the shots didn’t fall,” said Tara Llanes (North Vancouver, B.C.). “I thought we executed the game plan that we wanted to execute. They had some good shots; I can’t take that away from them.”

Kady Dandeneau (Pender Island, B.C.) had a team-high 19 points, 21 rebounds and five assists. Arinn Young (Legal, Alta.) added 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Élodie Tessier (Saint-Germain de Grantham, Que.) and Llanes chipped in eight points each.

The second-place finish earned Canada a spot in the 2024 IWBF Women’s Repechage tournament in Osaka, Japan. The SWNT will need a Top-4 finish in Japan to qualify for the 2024 Paralympics.

“I think for us, it’s coming down to playing 40 minutes, solid, which we didn’t do, but I think we’re a better team,” said Dandeneau. “We’ll go to Japan; we need to finish Top 4; we have a job to do now.”

Canada pulled to within six points late in the fourth, but that’s as close as they would get.

The US pushed its lead to 11, heading into the fourth with a 46-35 cushion. Dandenau led Canada with 13 points, while Llanes added eight.

The SWNT trailed 28-22 at halftime. Both teams shot an identical 38 per cent from the field through two quarters. Canada was led by eight from Dandeneau; Llanes added six, while Cindy Ouellet (Quebec City, Que.) had four.

The US went on a 4-0 run to pull ahead 10-6 and led 14-10 after the first period.

Complete stats from the gold medal game can be found here.

SMNT falls to Colombia, to play for bronze on Saturday

The Senior Men’s National Team fell 64-53 to Colombia in the semifinals at the Parapan American Games on Friday in Santiago.

Canada will face Argentina in Saturday’s bronze medal game at 12:30 p.m. ET. The SMNT defeated Argentina 56-49 to conclude group play on Monday.

“Colombia is a really good team. They played hard,” said Bo Hedges (Wonowon, B.C.). “We missed some shots that we should’ve hit, turned the ball over here and there, and they took advantage of it, got a little bit of a lead, and we just couldn’t overcome it in the fourth.”

Patrick Anderson (Fergus, Ont.) led Canada with 22 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Nik Goncin (Regina, Sask.) added 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Colin Higgins (Rothesay, N.B.) chipped in 10 points in Canada’s first loss of the tournament.

“I think Colombia played in fourth gear right from the jump, all the way through, and we went past fourth gear into fifth gear in the second half, but it was a little bit too little, too late, and sometimes too much too late. We were pressing a little bit,” Anderson explained. “We fought through to the end. I’m proud of that, but it will take a reset on Saturday, and we have to come out in third or fourth gear instead of second.”

Canada outscored Colombia 17-12 in the fourth quarter and pulled to within seven with 3:16 remaining, but that’s as close as the SMNT would get.

Team Canada will need a victory over Argentina on Saturday to secure a spot in the 2024 IWBF Repechage tournament scheduled for April 12-15, 2024, in Antibes, France.

“We’ve got to flush this loss – it’s not going to be easy because this was the easier, surer path and having a chance to win this thing and go right to Paris – that’s out the window now – that’s disappointing.

“It would’ve been nice to take control of our own destiny, but that’s to a certain extent out of our hands now.”

Colombia led by 16 to through three quarters, with Canada shooting 29 per cent from the field heading into the fourth.

The SMNT trailed by 10, 34-24 at halftime after being outscored 20-7 in the second quarter.

Higgins had eight at the break, while Goncin had six. Anderson and Tyler Miller (Kitchener, Ont.) each had four points through two quarters.

Canada closed the opening quarter on a 5-2 run and led 17-14.

Higgins, Miller and Anderson each had four points. Goncin added three in the first period.

Full stats from the men’s semifinals can be found here.