Erica Gavel (top middle) with her Parapan Am gold medal. (Twitter/Canadian Wheelchair Basketball)

By Jeff D'Andrea

Getting Gold

P.A.’s Erica Gavel wins Parapan-Am Gold

Sep 1, 2019 | 10:39 AM

Prince Albert has a new golden girl.

Erica Gavel and the rest of Team Canada defeated the United States in the Women’s Wheelchair Basketball gold medal match 67-64 on Friday night in Lima, Peru.

Canada outscored the Americans 20-12 in the final quarter to come away with the win.

“We didn’t start the game the way we had hoped,” Erica Gavel told paNOW from Lima Peru. “We were down the majority of the game, but as soon as we hit the first two shots (in the 4th quarter) we just had the momentum.”

“It was just so incredible, an experience that I could live over and over and over,” she said.

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The match also exacted revenge over the Americans, who defeated Canada in the Parapan-Am finals in 2015.

“That was a tough one to swallow, losing to the states in Toronto, but I’m just so proud of our team,” Gavel said.

Team Canada’s focus will now shift as Gavel and teammates get ready for the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. This will be her second Paralympics after wearing the red maple leaf in Rio back in 2016.

“We’ll have September off from training, then come the beginning of October we’ll ramp it up again and that’s when we’ll start preparing for Tokyo,” Gavel explained.

(With files from Ron Quaroni)

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Jeff.dandrea@Jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW