Delaney Gibb has always competed against older players, so being the youngest at the most important game of her life didn’t frighten the point guard away.
Gibb had her hand in every statistical category in the BioSteel All-Canadian Game at the Goldring Centre in Toronto on Sunday, finishing with a game-high 18 points, and added five rebounds to earn MVP honours as Team Red snuck by Team White 99-98.
The Raymond, Alta., native plays on her high school senior team as a tenth-grader, so she welcomes any challenge.
“I was always in the gym with older girls,” said Gibb, right after a superb performance at the Goldring Centre. “It just kind of pushed me to become better than all of them, so I started working harder.”
Gibb also had two blocks and no other player seemed to match her energy.
The Skills Challenge was on Saturday, and she made a solid 15 three-pointers in her first 3-point contest ever. That was the number that won the contest for the men.
Gibb has already represented Canada at the U16 level and is anticipating another special experience this summer with the U17 team.
“The game of basketball brings so much joy to me, and whenever I have time to work on my game I make sure I do it,” said Gibb.
Oftentimes, the player making the biggest impact in a basketball game gets the majority of the minutes, but since Gibb is the youngest of the bunch, coaches chose to play the older players.
“I remain humble and this is an opportunity I would never pass up,” she said.
Ideally, Gibb has plenty of time to make her decision when it comes to playing at the collegiate level.
“I don’t like the cold, so I won’t mind hearing from some of the southern schools,” Gibb said in an interview after her splendid performance.
Young Alberta hoops star not put off by competing against older competition
Gibb impressed at BioSteel contest in front of national audience
