4 June 2018
The fourth and final day of Basketball Without Borders Asia 2018 concluded in thrilling fashion as the 66 campers from 16 countries and territories in Asia-Pacific competed in championship games and a pair of All-Star games.
The camp got underway in the morning with the girls championship game between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx. Coached on the sidelines by Ruth Riley and Sakshi Sheoran, the Lynx defeated the Liberty 20-13. Paige Price from Australia led the Lynx with a game-high 7 points.
The boys championship game then followed, with the Milwaukee Bucks going up against the Brooklyn Nets. Led by coaches Darvin Ham and Satnam Singh, the Bucks edged past the Bret Brielmaier and Caris LeVert led Nets team 22-18. Samuel Jenkins from New Zealand scored 8 points in the winning effort.
At the conclusion of the championship games, two boys and two girls All-Star teams were announced. Team Red of the girls All-Star team was coached by Ruth Riley, while Ebony Hoffman served as coach for Team White. Team Red defeated Team White 27-18, with Dan Zhao from China leading her team to victory with 8 points.
Following that, the boys All-Star Game was played between Team Red (coached by Bret Brielmaier, Caris LeVert, Darvin Ham and Satnam Singh) and Team White (coached by Ryan Saunders, Mike Wells and Corey Brewer). Team Red emerged with the 39-37 win thanks to a team-high 8 points from both Clancey Bird and Mac Stodart.
During a break in the boys All-Star game, the boys and girls 3-point champions took part in fun shooting games. Boys 3-point champion Amir Hossein from Iran went up against Caris LeVert, while girls 3-point Champion Indiah Bowyer from Australia competed against Ebony Hoffman.
The 10th BWB Asia camp wrapped up with the Awards Ceremony. Rence Forthsky Padrigao (Philippines) was named Boys MVP, while Sanjana Ramesh from India was crowned as MVP on the girls side. The All-Star rosters and full-list of awards winners is as follows:
Girls All-Star Team:
Team Red – Rajvi Desai (India), Suniskha Karthik (India), Sreekala Rani (India), Indiah Bowyer (Australia), Pushpa Senthil Kumar (India), Jianjun Gao (China), Dan Zhao (China)
Boys All-Star Team:
Team Red – Kaiga Matsuo (Japan), Rence Padrigao (Philippines), Joshua James Giddey (Australia), Chien-Hao Ma (China), Amir Hossein Aliyari Dehkordi (Iran), Kian Jamie Dennis (Australia), Matin Aghajanpour (Iran), Clancy Bird (Australia), Mac Stodart (New Zealand)
MVP Quotes:
Boys MVP Rence Forthsky, Philippines
“I have not only improved as a basketball player but also as an individual. The focus here was on your overall development at the personal and professional level, and I am glad to have won MVP at the end of all of it.”
Girls MVP: Sanjana Ramesh, India
“Whatever I have learnt here playing with international players and coaches I am going to take that back and share the knowledge with my fellow players. Basketball is my life and these four days at the camp were the best I have had in my life.”
Follow the writer on Twitter: @burnsports
