A number of players with connections to the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association are preparing for an exciting opportunity this month.
Canada Basketball’s premier under-23 3X3 will be held in downtown Toronto Aug. 9 to 10 and plenty of familiar faces will be in attendance representing New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in the women’s division.
Champions of the division will receive $8,000 as a cash prize and second place will earn $2,000.
Basketball New Brunswick will be represented by four players including three who were teammates with the Fredericton Freeze in 2024.
Maheva Ngassam, Ann Bastien and Leah Travers, all former MWBAers, will join Addie Mombourquette at the Toronto event.
All four players are teammates with the Atlantic University Sport’s University of New Brunswick Reds.
Basketball Nova Scotia is sending a quartet and two of them have played in the MWBA.
Melania Collins, who has suited up with Halifax Hornets and Halifax Thunder in the MWBA, joins Hornets’ teammate Samantha Manieri wearing Bluenose Province colours. The duo is joined by UNB commit Olivia Logan and Victoria Fournier, who has committed to play with the Dalhousie University Tigers.
The 3×3 is simple and flexible enough to be played anywhere by anybody. All you need is a hoop, a half-court and six players. Events can be staged outdoor and indoor in iconic locations to bring basketball directly to the people.
The rules are very simple and designed to make it a fast, spectacular and exciting game. The non-stop music brings an authentic urban culture atmosphere, which attracts a new young audience to the games.
The MWBA’s reigning MVP MacKenzie Smith of Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Preston’s Lake City 56ers, played for Team Canada at the recent FIBA 3X3 under-23 championship in Chile.
– Melania Collins of Halifax Hornets is off to Toronto this month. (DWinston Photo)
