Oshawa, Ont. (Aug. 12, 2025) — Ontario’s 15U men’s and women’s teams captured national titles Saturday night in Oshawa, Ont., with gold-medal game victories over Quebec and British Columbia, respectively, at the 2025 Canada Basketball National Championships.

Ontario’s women’s squad got things started first. Maya Manners and Reine-Marie Luke combined for 35 points, as Ontario, who held a nine-point lead at halftime, outscored British Columbia 47-26 in the second half to win —--  surge to gold. Puneet Deol led British Columbia with 18 points, putting a bow on the First-Team All-Star’s tournament. 

It was all Ontario on Saturday night in Oshawa. Led by a 19-point performance by eventual First-Team All-Star Brandyn Clarke, Ontario went on to win 92-84. K’vontae Walters chipped in 18 points, while eventual Tournament MVP Praise Badejo scored 14. Ontario led by 20 at halftime, and while Quebec was able to trim the deficit to just six with over seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, that was as close as they would come. Michael Petion led Quebec with 24 points and 13 rebounds, as the province’s 15U Men’s squad finished second for the third-straight year.

This marked the fourth-straight 15U Men’s National Championship for Ontario and the second-consecutive 15U Women’s National Championship.

Alberta defeated Quebec 39-26 in a gritty, low scoring affair to head home with a 15U Women’s bronze. First-Team All Star Nev Hirsche led the way with a game-high 13 points, while hauling in 11 rebounds to record a double-double in the win. 

Meanwhile, in the 15U Men’s bronze medal game 22 points from Lucas Thomas and 20 points from Kai Newman helped Alberta outlast British Columbia and make it a pair of podium finishes for the province at Nationals. Logan Szpak, had a game-high 30 points in a losing effort for British Columbia.

This marks the sixth-straight National Championship in which Alberta has finished on the podium, after each Alberta provincial team won bronze at last year’s 2024 Men’s and Women’s Canada Basketball National Championships.

‍NOTEWORTHY 

• Strength came in numbers for Ontario’s 15U Men’s team, who had four players average double-digits in scoring — Brandyn Clarke, K’vontae Walters, Jaylen Shepherd, Brandyn Clark and Praise Badejo.
• Newfoundland and Labrador’s Erika McNeil finished as the leading scorer in the 15U Women’s National Championships, largely in part to a pair of 27-point performances in clashes against Atlantic rival New Brunswick. McNeil recorded a double-double in all six of her games, helping her also lead the tournament as the leading rebounder after hauling in 14.3 rebounds per game.
• McNeil’s teammates Harlow Cowan and Erin Doody co-led the tournament with 4.0 assists per game. Cowan was all over the court in Newfoundland and Labrador’s final game of the tournament, she recorded eight points, 19 rebounds, five steals and four assists. 
• Saskatchewan 15U Women’s point guard Grier Holt Mollor led the tournament in field goal percentage, shooting at a 47.4 per cent clip. The Saskatoon product stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with 4.2 steals per game — second-highest in the tournament — and 14.5 points per game. She finished the tournament with a 23-point performance in a fifth-place game win against Nova Scotia and earned First-Team All-Star status.
• On the theme of Saskatchewan, Jacob Dylan DelCastillo led the 15U Men’s National Championship in both points per game and three-pointers made, averaging 23.8 points per game and 22 three-pointers in five games. DelCastillo exploded for 36 points in a narrow loss to Nova Scotia. 
• Narrowly trailing DelCastillo in points-per-game was Manitoba’s Veer Brar. Brar averaged 21.8 per game at the tournament and helped Manitoba finish fifth. Brar finished with 22 points, six assists, four steals and four rebounds in a fifth-place game win over Nova Scotia. 
• Manitoba’s fifth-place finish in U15 Men’s is the province’s best at a National Championship since finishing fith in 2019 and an improvement on a ninth-place finish in 2023 and sixth-place finishes in 2023 and 2024.
• Will Holland was instrumental for Prince Edward Island’s 15U Men’s squad. Holland was one of five players in the tournament to average more than 20 points per game, while also averaging 10.0 rebounds per game. His 15 three-pointers made were tied for second most in Oshawa.
• Cadence MacLeod led Nova Scotia’s 15U Men’s squad with 16 points per game and averaged a tournament best 8.7 assists per game — 2.9 dimes per game more than any other player. Macleod’s personal tournament high of 24 points helped Nova Scotia push British Columbia to the brink in group play, before ultimately falling 79-72.
• New Brunswick’s Ifeoluwa Akitobi led the 15U Men’s National Championship in rebounds per game by a wide margin. Akitobi hauled in a ridiculous 15.3 boards per game — 3.7 more than any other player in the tournament. Akitobi’s performance of the tournament came vs. Manitoba, as he finished the contest with 20 points and 23 rebounds. He also ranked third in blocks per game with 2.7.
• Kayla Felt led the tournament in blocks on the 15U Women’s side, averaging 3.2 blocks per game.

‍Tournament MVP — 15U Men’s 

Praise Badejo, Ontario

‍First Team All-Stars — 15U Men’s

Brandyn Clarke, Ontario

Mikaël Larosilière, Quebec

Michael Petion, Quebec

Mikhail Francis, Alberta

Logan Szpak, British Columbia

‍Second Team All-Stars — 15U Men’s

Veer Brar, Manitoba

Cadence MacLeod, Nova Scotia

Jacob Dylan DelCastillo, Saskatchewan

Ifeoluwa Akitobi, New Brunswick

Lucas Thomas, Alberta

‍Final Standings — 15U Men’s 

1. Ontario
2. Quebec 
3. Alberta
4. British Columbia
5. Manitoba
6. Nova Scotia
7. New Brunswick
8. Newfoundland and Labrador
9. Saskatchewan
10. Prince Edward Island

Tournament MVP — 15U Women’s 

Reine-Marie Luke, Ontario

‍First Team All-Stars — 15U Women’s

Nev Hirsche, Alberta

Grier Holt Mellor, Saskatchewan

Puneet Deol, British Columbia

Iva Crepnjak, British Columbia

Sienna Morris, Ontario

‍Second Team All-Stars — 15U Women’s

Erika McNeil, Newfoundland and Labrador

Haley Posteraro, Alberta

Maya Manners, Ontario

Isalo Sarah Andriamanana, Quebec

Zaria Eniojukan, Ontario

‍Final Standings — 15U Women’s 

1. Ontario
2. British Columbia
3. Alberta
4. Quebec
5. Saskatchewan
6. Nova Scotia 
7. Manitoba 
8. Newfoundland and Labrador
9. New Brunswick

The Canada Basketball 15U & 17U National Championships are the premier national amateur sport events for the Canadian basketball community. Each summer, Canada’s top next generation of high performance athletes at the 15U and 17U age groups, competes for the National Championship title while representing their home province/territory.