Horns coaches win gold at FIBA 3×3

By Lethbridge Herald on October 3, 2022.

From left, Paige Crozon, Michelle Plouffe, Katherine Plouffe and Kacie Bosch celebrating their gold medal at the Constanta final in Romania.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s basketball assistant coaches Paige Crozon and Kacie Bosch wrapped up their 3×3 FIBA Women’s Series with a gold medal with  Team Canada  in the Constanta final in Romania recently.

The duo were joined by the Plouffe twins of Michelle and Katherine.

The gold medal was the fourth of the season for the team after previous wins in Edmonton, Bucharest and Montreal in a season of three-on-three basketball that lasts from May and goes until mid-September.

Canada placed fourth at the Quebec tournament.

“It was amazing to play with Paige and the Plouffe twins,” said Bosch.

“They’re just so talented and so humble and it reignited my love for basketball again, especially because it’s so different from fives’, you really have to have the team chemistry. And so the fact that we did so well, I think is a big testament to how we are (and) all four of us are together even off the court.”

Bosch thought it was the player’s personalities that fit well throughout the season.

“And everybody brings such a different thing off the court, that everyone’s personalities just melded,” said Bosch.

“I think it was a very proud moment for all of us,” said Crozon.

“With the Women’s Series, we travelled to a new stop around the world almost every weekend. So it was a gruelling summer with the travel but also such an amazing opportunity and we really (had) grown a lot as a team and have a lot of chemistry both on and off the court. So to finish the season with a win was a very proud moment for all of us and we were very happy to bring the championship back to our communities and share it with our family and friends.”

In Crozon’s mind, the team had to have a lot of resiliency and at times bet on themselves to get where they got to.

“We’re very fortunate to have found success this season,” said Crozon.

The win acted as a stepping towards hopefully qualifying for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Bosch and Crozon’s connection goes back to playing in last year’s  AmeriCup together, training every week and playing at the YMCA against Bosch’s brother and his friends.

“We still trained two to three times a week leading up to it,” said Bosch, on preparation for the final.

“And before we left for Constanta, we had our entire team come down (to Lethbridge) for a couple days for a quick training camp.”

Team Canada was ranked first of eight teams that qualified for the final tournament.