Team USA-Red holds off Canada for the Bronze!
Charles stakes claim for No. 1!

U.S.A. Olympic Training Center – Colorado Springs, CO

Tina Charles (6-3/182 - Christ the King H.S., Jamaica, N.Y.) broke the scoring and rebounding records at the Festival.

2005 USA Women’s Youth Festival as she led her team to the Bronze Medal with a win over the national team from Canada.

Team Canada came out ready to play, led by an ailing Megan Pinske (5-9 - Port Moody Secondary, Coquitlam, British Columbia-Canada), Kate Hole (6-2, Ross Shepard Composite H.S., St. Albert, Albert-Canada) and Robyn Fairbanks (6-0 - Raymond H.S., Raymond, Albert-Canada) the young ladies from up North took an early lead.

Team USA-Red didn’t really attack early but once Charles, Porsha Phillips (6-2/178 - Redan H.S., Stone Mountain, GA), DelaQuses Jernigan (5-11/143 - East Chicago Central H.S. - Chicago, IL) and Arika Hughes (6-1/171 - Southridge H.S., Beaverton, OR) started pounding the glass it allowed guards Amber White (5-7/160 - Coatsville H.S., Coatsville, PA) and Sireece Bass (5-7/140 - Pershing H.S., Detroit, MI) to get out on the break.

By the end of the quarter Charles had established that she was not going to be denied in the paint scoring 10 points to give Team USA-Red an 18-14 lead.

Kelsey Adrian (Brookswood Secondary, Langley, British Columbia-Canada) drives hard past Myia McCurdy (Winton Woods H.S., Cincinnati, OH).

The action really got spirited in the 2nd quarter as Team Canada continued to challenge the talented Americans. On one play Brittaney Raven (6-0/153 – North Crowley H.S., Forth Worth, TX) unintentionally hit Team Canada’s Vanessa Kabongo (5-8, Eastern Commerce H.S., Toronto-Canada) in the face with the ball as she was trying to save it from going out of bounds; this appeared to have fired up Team Canada.

A technical was called on the play; Tara Watts (5-9 - Brookswood Secondary, Surrey, British Columbia-Canada) hit the technical free-throws. With just under 5:00 minutes to play in the half Team Canada tied the score at 27-27. The teams would continue to trade baskets back and forth. A 6-0 run by Team USA-Red gave them a 39-34 lead at the half.

In the 3rd quarter Team USA-Red really stepped up their defensive effort, much to the delight of Head Coach Diane Richardson (Riverdale Baptist H.S., MD). With White and Raven handling the scoring load in the quarter Team USA-Red opened up a 61-46 lead. During the run Michelle Harrison (6-3/170 - Mountain View H.S., Orem, UT) and Joy Cheek (6-1/180 - South Mecklenburg H.S., Charlotte, N.C.) did a nice job defensively.

On this play Brittaney Raven (North Crowley H.S., Forth Worth, TX) tries to throw the ball inbounds and unintentionally hit Team Canada’s Vanessa Kabongo (Eastern Commerce H.S., Toronto-Canada) in the face with the ball which fired up Team Canada.

Redan's Porsha Phillips is double-teamed as she turns to make her move in the paint.

Although the game in all practical purposes was over as the 4th quarter got underway, Head Coach Mireille Beland’s Team Canada squad showed its grit by never giving up. Kelsey Adrian (6-1 - Brookswood Secondary, Langley, British Columbia-Canada) who was solid the entire tournament keep her team within shouting distance but in the end it was a little too much Tina Charles and Team USA-Red as the went on to a hard fought 74-64 win to capture the Bronze Metal.

As mentioned earlier Tina Charles broke the Festival record in scoring finishing with a total of 105 points and rebounding gathering in 67 boards.

Bronze Medal Winners

4th Place Finish

Box Scores