Including a 21: 9 win over Brazil (4: 1) in the gold medal game, the 3×3 AmeriCup team of the USA (5: 0) crossed undefeated to a gold medal at the first FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup on Sunday at Bayfront Park in Miami. Fl.
Cierra Burdick, a distinguished figure in Tennessee from 2011-15, is a member of the winning squad. She was a member of the Force 10 3×3 team that won the Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Nationals 2021 title in June, where Burdick was tournament MVP. She also played at the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series Klaipeida Stop 2021 in Lithuania in July, where the US went 5-0 and won the tournament.
Burdick previously won gold medals as a member of the US team at the 2009 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, 2010 FIBA U17 World Cup and 2011 FIBA U19 World Cup, as well as a tournament title at the 2014 USA Basketball 3×3 National Championship.
USA center Brionna Jones (Connecticut Sun / Maryland / Havre de Grace, Md.), Who led the women’s event with 8.2 points per game, was named tournament MVP. The Brazilian Sassa Fausto Goncalves and the Canadian Michelle Plouffe completed the tournament team.
“I was excited to come to Miami and play 3×3 basketball for the first time, and it feels good to get the gold medal on my first try,” said Jones. “I just wanted to come here and do whatever I had to do to help the team win a gold medal.”
The gold medalist of the women’s team of the FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup won a place in the FIBA 3×3 World Championship in 2022, but the USA women were already qualified with the gold medal of the USA at the 3×3 tournament of the Tokyo Olympics.
In the 21: 9 gold medal win over Brazil, the USA broke the game with an 8: 0 run, which culminated with a 2-pointer from Haley Gorecki (Duke / Palatine, Ill.), Who brought the game to 10: 2 in favor of the US at 7:06 a.m. From that point on, Brazil came closest to five points, 14-9 at 4:58, but the US kept Brazil goalless for the rest of the game. The US scored seven unanswered points and secured victory with a Gorecki 2-pointer at 2:05.
Jones had seven points and four rebounds in the final; Burdick (Seattle Storm / Tennessee / Charlotte, NC) finished with six points and six rebounds; Gorecki contributed five points and three rebounds; and Blake Dietrick (Princeton / Wellesley, Mass.) scored three points and took three rebounds.
“I think we just had a great team,” said Dietrick. “I loved playing with them and the whole experience was great.”
The USA’s semi-finals against Puerto Rico were close in the first half and the result was 6:38 10: 9 in favor of the USA. However, the US started an 8-0 run to turn the tide and lead 18-9 after 3:52. Jones finished the game with a score of 3:02, giving the US a 21:11 win.
Burdick finished with seven points and five rebounds; Jones had six points; Dietrick scored five points and collected three rebounds; and Gorecki contributed three points and four rebounds.
“The competition was tough out here,” said Jones. “But we were able to do our sets and we played well.”
The USA were in control during their 21: 7 quarter-final win over the Dominican Republic (1: 3). After taking a 6-1 lead, the Dominican Republic got three points, 7-4 at 7:02, but a 5-0 run gave the US a 12-4 lead and the momentum of the game.
The Dominican Republic tried fouling the US on the brakes, but the US shot a perfect 11 of 11 from the free throw line. Six of these free throws came from Jones, who led the US with 11 points in the game. Gorecki scored five points from time with a team high of five rebounds; Dietrick contributed three points; and Burdick scored two points and three rebounds.
“They wanted to be super physical and not let us into our stuff and that’s fine because we can do free throws,” Dietrick said. “I think we can win in different ways on this team.”
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