DEBRECEN, HUNGARY — USA made history again by successfully defending their FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup titles in both the men and the women’s categories in Debrecen, Hungary on August 24-29, 2021.
Two years after completing the historic double for the first time in Mongolia, the United States repeated after going undefeated with the men and 6-1 with the women (their only loss coming against Russia in the pool stage).
At just 16 years old, Mikaylah Williams was sensational for the women’s team, comfortably leading the scoring charts (with 56 points overall, the second had just 36) and winning MVP. She had a game-high 10 points and buried a shot from the 3×3 logo for the win against Spain in the final (21-14).
Spain’s Elena Buenavida and Zita Szabo – who led Hungary to bronze in front of the huge home crowd – joined Williams on the team of the tournament.
In the men’s category, the United States won every single game before the 10-minute limit. Estonia were the only team that tested the high-flying American team, in their opener (21-17) and in the final (21-14).
After a slow U.S. start, Kyle Filipowski controlled the paint like Picasso in the final (game-high 9 points in the final). His teammate Keyonte George added 7 to move up to second overall in scoring on the entire tournament. George scored in all positions in Hungary and received the MVP trophy from Russian basketball legend and FIBA 3×3 Commission Chairman Andrei Kirilenko.
Top scorer Illia Milasheuski – who took home bronze with Belarus – and Estonia star Markus Heinakroon shared team of the tournament honors with George.
Egypt finished fourth in the men’s category, the best-ever performance by an African team in the competition.
George’s teammate Eric Dailey Jr won the dunk contest, Paula Cirsa (Latvia’s women) dominated the skills contest while Marta Morales (Spain’s women) earned gold at the mixed shoot-out contest.
Final Standings of the FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup 2021
Men
1. USA
2. Estonia
3. Belarus
4. Egypt
5. Ukraine
6. Lithuania
7. Dominican Republic
8. Kazakhstan
9. Russia
10. Slovenia
11. Brazil
12. Mongolia
13. Israel
14. Hungary
15. Germany
16. Romania
17. Latvia
18. Indonesia
Women
1. USA
2. Spain
3. Hungary
4. Germany
5. Russia
6. Latvia
7. Ukraine
8. Estonia
9. Belarus
10. Netherlands
11. Israel
12. Slovenia
13. Romania
14. Egypt
15. Mongolia
16. Switzerland
17. Indonesia
FIBA Media Release
Photo Credit: FIBA
