The Whitehorse Women’s Basketball League faced the Filipino Canadian Basketball League of Yukon’s men’s team in the 8th annual All Star Match Up event.
The two Yukon sporting bodies jointly organized the event, which took place on Dec. 15 at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School.
The annual exhibition featured two games: one in an open age division and another in the 35 and up category, along with a three-point shoot-out round.
In the 35 and up match, Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle was named the most valuable player, scoring 25 points against Jerome Tizon’s 17 points. Despite her efforts, the men’s team won the 35 and up with a final score of 64-59.
The second match for the open age bracket division saw the Whitehorse Women’s League triumph with a score of 71-59, led by Claire Abbott’s shooting with a match tally of 21 points.
Macky Aguialdo triumphed during the three-point competition, followed by Alec Tinga who came second, and then Claire Abbott.
Abbott, who has a record of playing professional basketball, recently returned to the territory after playing professionally for several years with a European team, according to Whitehorse Women’s Basketball League president, Lianne Fordham. Abbott played with the Oakland Wolves, based in the British town of St. Albans, for the 2023/24 season, as noted on Eurobasket.com.
The 8th annual territory-wide Lights Out Yukon Invitational Basketball Tournament is the next upcoming basketball event with games anticipated by the two leagues to take place Jan. 30 to Feb. 2.
Basketball players can register to compete in either the men’s or women’s youth and adult age divisions, which are set to take place across high schools in Whitehorse.
The Lights Out Yukon Invitational website shows teams from Alaska in the U.S., Dawson City, Fort Ware, and Fort Nelson in B.C., Inuvik in the N.W.T., Watson Lake and numerous teams based out of Whitehorse are on the roster to compete in tournaments.
Contact Jake Howarth at jake.howarth@yukon-news.com
