What a difference a year makes for the Canada's men's wheelchair basketball national team.
Last year, the team was still struggling to find its identity after turning over half its players following their run to gold at the 2012 Paralympics. Canada, a perennial powerhouse in the sport internationally, missed qualifying for the 2014 world championships for the first time in nearly two decades.
All that soul-searching was forgotten Friday on the court at the Para Pan Am Games in Toronto, where Canada cruised to a 70-54 win over Brazil to advance to today's gold-medal game against the United States.
"I'm really proud of the team and the adversity we've overcome and the way we've come together to play for the gold medal, I knew we could do it," said Canada co-captain Bo Hedges.
"Not qualifying for the world championships was a pretty big hill to overcome for the young guys coming in. We had to figure out how to get the most out of everyone and come together as a unit after a lot of guys retired that had been mainstays on the team. We had to learn how to win."
A near-capacity crowd of close to 3,500 at Ryerson Athletic Centre watched David Eng of Montreal shoot a game-high 28 points for Canada against the Brazilians while Nik Goncin of Regina contributed 17 rebounds and seven assists. Goncin was a dominant player in the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, leading Saskatchewan to a silver medal.
Brazil built an 18-15 lead after one quarter but by the half Canada was ahead 34-29. Hedges collected six points and five assists in nearly 32 minutes of playing time. He's among the tournament leaders with 22 assists in five games.
"We have so many great shooters, I just have to keep moving the ball around and somebody gets hot and the other team can't defend everybody," said Hedges, a native of Fort St. John and UNBC graduate who lived in Prince George from 1998-2006. "Brazil is very physical with their chairs and have a lot bigger bodies and they came out really strong."
Ranked No. 2 in the world behind Australia, the U.S. has won the past two Para Pan Am competitions and Hedges knows exactly what Canada is up against this morning. The final features Canada's top-ranked offence, which leads the tournament with 387 points in five games against a U.S. team that's allowed the fewest points (185).
"A lot of us guys have played in the U.S. college system with and against those guys for years and we all know each other very well and have a lot of rivalry with a lot of little battles going on so it will be a fun game," said Hedges. "It's going to be a defensive battle overall with both teams being so quick out there. The U.S. is probably the deepest squad so it will be a challenge for us to navigate that lineup and minimize the impact against us."
Today's final will be televised live on CBC beginning at 8 a.m. PDT.
Friday's win guarantees Canada a berth in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil. The Canadian men have been dominant in Paralympic competition in recent years, winning gold in London (2012), Athens (2004) and Sydney (2000) and were silver medalists in Beijing (2008). Hedges, an eight year veteran with the team, shared in those medal wins in 2012 and 2008 and wants to hear that national anthem played again next year in Brazil.
"It's great to get to go back to the Paralympics and represent Canada there and compete at the highest level on the biggest stage possible for wheelchair basketball, it's an amazing atmosphere and an amazing tournament to be part of," Hedges said. "Just the aspect of being there representing Canada and the village and the opening ceremonies and all the other stuff that goes along with it makes it so special."
In Friday's women's wheelchair gold-medal final, Canada lost 80-72 to the U.S. Janet McLachlan of North Vancouver sunk 27 points for Canada. Brazil beat Argentina 49-19 for bronze.
