Suns Shine at National Championship
Cruisers Suns earn silver and individual awards at 2018 CWBL National Championship
The OWSA would like to congratulate the Cruisers Suns on their silver medal finish in Tier 2 at the 2018 CWBL National Championship. The tournament, which brought together the top wheelchair basketball club teams from across Canada, was held at the Martensville Athletic Pavillion in Martensville, Saskatchewan from May 4-6.
After posting an undefeated record in the Round Robin, the Suns went on to defeat the Lethbridge Steamers 45-32 in the Semi Finals to advance to Sunday’s gold medal game. They would be slotted to play against Saskatchewan White after their own win against Manitoba. In a hard-fought Final, the Cruisers Suns led until the final minutes of the 4th quarter. It was then that Saskatchewan pulled away with a come-from-behind win of 48-39 in front of cheers from the home crowd to take the gold.
Two Suns athletes earned individual awards for their performance throughout the weekend. Tamara Steeves was nominated to the All-Star team while Michael Kilonzo was named as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Tier 1 saw a a rematch of the 2017 CWBL Championship game with the Gladiateurs de Laval facing off against Team BC. The Glads came out victorious for a second year in a row with a score of 57-41.
Final Standings
Tier 1
1 – Gladiateurs de Laval
2 – British Columbia
3 – Saskatchewan Green
4 – Alberta Northern Lights
5 – Centre d’intégration à la vie active (CIVA)
All-Stars Tier 1: Bo Hedges (BC), Cindy Ouellet (Gladiateurs), Nik Goncin (Saskatchewan), Aidan Love (BC), Ben Moronchuk (Northern Lights)
Tier 1 MVP: David Eng (Gladiateurs)
Tier 2
1 – Saskatchewan White
2 – Cruisers Suns
3 – Manitoba
4 – Lethbridge Steamers
All-Stars Tier 2: Jeff Watson (Manitoba), Brady Arthurs (Saskatchewan), Sarah Brown (Saskatchewan), Tamara Steeves (Suns), Tanner Bolianatz (Saskatchewan)
Tier 2 MVP: Michael Kilonzo (Suns)