BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA | Regis Jesuit basketball standout Fran Belibi’s one international experience thus far turned out golden.
The Raiders’ junior-to-be — still a relative newcomer to the game of basketball, but loaded with athleticism and potential — helped USA Basketball’s U16 team win a gold medal at the FIBA Americas U16 Championships in Argentina.
Team USA routed Canada 91-46 in Sunday’s championship game at CeNard (Centro Nacional de Alto Rendimiento Deportivo) to finish the tournament 5-0 and earn passage into the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup Tournament.
In the championship game, Belibi logged nine minutes and finished 1-for-4 from the field for two points to go with two rebounds.
The versatile 6-foot-1 frontcourt player — who was one of 12 players to survive the cut from a field of 133 invitees to make the team — appeared in all five of USA’s games and held her own in her first taste of international competition. The USA defeated Colombia (91-33), Mexico (100-37), Puerto Rico (79-32) and Argentina (98-42) leading up to the final against Canada.
Belibi averaged a team-low 11 minutes per game, but finished third on the team with an average of 5.8 rebounds per game to go with 4.8 points per contest. Her best game statistically came against Mexico, when she saw her most playing time (14 minutes), finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
In a press release about the win over Mexico, Belibi was asked about the team’s victory: “I think we played really well. It’s always good when you can keep a team under 40 and score 100 points. We played as a team and moved the ball around. We played good team defense.”
Belibi also had an eight-rebound outing against Puerto Rico among her highlights.
Her appearance on the international stage came quickly, as she has played basketball for less than two full years. A tennis player as well, Belibi blossomed as a sophomore for coach Carl Mattei’s Regis Jesuit team, which she helped lead to the Class 5A Final Four in the winter. She also went viral nationally when she became the first Colorado girls prep player to dunk in a game.
The USA team included two players each from New Jersey, Ohio and Virginia, plus others from Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Texas and New York in addition to Belibi, Colorado’s lone representative. The USA improved to 24-1 all-time since the FIBA Americas U16 tournament began in 2009.
“It feels awesome. We are excited to be bringing gold back to the USA,” coach Carla Berube (Tufts University) said in a statement.
“I owe so much to my staff, just game-planning and getting the team ready. The team worked so hard. We gave them a lot in a short amount of time, and they executed and came together both on and off the court. That’s what it is all about, and when you have that work ethic and you have the team jelling, good things happen.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
