Quebec basketball players Rosalie Mercille and Sarah Te-Biasu, members of Canada’s 3-on-3 Commonwealth Games champion team, are coming home grown.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Younger than their rivals, less experienced, defeated in friendly matches… the Canadians have come a long way to take gold.
“It was really a great feeling. At the end of the line, Sarah Te-Biasu remembers the moment when she made the winning shot of the tournament. Thanks a lay up well placed in the last moments of the final, the Montrealer allowed the Canadians to climb to the top step of the podium. And she did it against host England – in Birmingham.
“I still have all the emotions… The crowd was not with us, adds her teammate Rosalie Mercille. But we really stayed as a team. [Après le tir gagnant], I looked at the coach in the stands with stars in my eyes. We came a long way, but she always believed in us. […] It was one of the best experiences of my life. »
A story in three stages
Aged 19 and 20 respectively, Rosalie and Sarah were part of a team that was significantly younger than the others in the tournament. Along with British Columbians Tara Wallack (19) and Taya Hanson (22), they regularly faced athletes a decade older than them.
Their experience at the Commonwealth Games took place in three stages. A kind of short roller coaster.
First, in preparation for the competition which took place between July 30 and August 2, the Canadians trained in Toronto. They dominated – but against weaker opponents.
When they arrived in Europe, they hit a wall. “We made a small agreement with England, New Zealand and Australia in which we played friendly matches to get used to the environment, says Mercille. We lost everything… and we thought it wouldn’t be easy like in Canada. »
In the qualifying phase, Canada placed third out of four countries in Group B, with a record of one win (British Virgin Islands) against two losses (New Zealand, England). This result still allowed him to pass in the eliminatory phase.
So we watched a lot of videos: we had to learn really quickly! We lived together and we spent our time wondering why other people were able to beat us.
Rosalie Mercille
Through their roommate video sessions, the four Canadians implemented many technical changes that made a difference on the court. They communicated more, refused to cover another player if the opposing attack tried to force them to rally and relied on their speed. “Watching the team of guys helped us better understand the game and pick things up,” notes Sarah Te-Biasu.
Thus, thanks to a new game formula, they successively eliminated Scotland in the quarter-finals and New Zealand in the semi-finals. We know their result against England in the final match.
Learning
You should know that 5 against 5 (usual format) and 3 against 3 are very different.
“We had never played this style of basketball,” remarks Te-Biasu. They [l’organisation des Jeux] emailed us a week before the tournament, that’s when we learned the rules. The difference is probably that you have to think faster and know how to play better one on one. The rebound is very important, and you have to talk with your teammates. »
3 on 3 basketball is played only on one half of the court, and the ball can be put into play immediately after a basket. There are two ways to win: reach a target score of 21 or lead the game after 10 minutes of play.
“Throughout the tournament, it was like relearning a new game,” says Rosalie Mercille. My game has changed: I will never play the same way again. You must always be on the move! If you don’t move, you’re not helping your team. And if you celebrate, you risk getting caught by a girl standing at the 3-point line. »
In the fall, Sarah Te-Biasu will begin her third university season in the NCAA, with the Rams of VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University).
Elected to the third team of all stars and champion in the Atlantic 10 conference last year, she returns to the United States “with a lot of confidence and the mindset to win another title”.
Rosalie Mercille, for her part, will play her third and final season with the Géants du Cégep Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, in the first division of the RSEQ.
She has two goals: to get noticed by NCAA teams and to “bring the 3-on-3 culture home” to benefit her program.