Chilliwack’s Deanna Tuchscherer played big minutes as a reserve at the 2017 FIBA Americas U-16 Women’s Basketball Championship, helping Canada to a silver medal finish.
The GW Graham student traveled to Argentina for the tournament, which ran June 7-11 in Buenos Aires.
Tuchscherer was 28th in the tourney in points per game, averaging 7.8 as the first player off the Canadian bench.
The teenager played 18:51 in last Wednesday’s opener vs Venezuela, recording 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists in an 89-38 win.
Tuchscherer put up six points, six rebounds and an assist in a 89-48 win over the Domincan Republic, then put up eight points and one rebound in a 71-65 win over Argentina.
Canada finished group play 3-0 and faced Colombia in a Saturday semi-final. Tuchscherer played 12:10, contributing four points and three rebounds in a 64-38 win.
The Canadians finally found a foe they couldn’t beat in the final, falling 91-46 to a powerhouse United States squad. Tuchscherer stuffed the stat sheet in a losing cause, shooting four of eight from the field and two of five from the free-throw line en-route to 1o points. She pulled down five rebounds and blocked two shots.
Canada came into the tournament as defending champions, winning gold in 2016 in Puebla, Mexico while the Americans settled for bronze.
See fiba.com/americas/u16women/2017/games for more info.