Cameron Boozer named MVP; Quiñones, Peterson, Osaruyi and Pratto round out All-Tournament team

YUCATAN (Mexico) – Forward Cameron Boozer was named the 2023 FIBA Americas U16 Championship Most Valuable Player after leading the United States to the gold medal.

The 15-year-old, son of former NBA star Carlos Boozer, dropped 24 in the final against Canada – a game Team USA won by a whopping 82 points.

Boozer was the tournament's 5th best scorer (16.8 points), rebounder (9.8 boards) and ball thief (2.5 steals). He also averaged 1.2 assists and 0.6 blocks, while shooting 58.8 percent from the field.

Boozer, alongside American guard Darryn Peterson, Puerto Rican guard Felipe Quiñones, Canadian big man Paul Osaruyi and Argentinian center Iván Pratto, was also named to the All-Tournament team.

Here's how each of them fared throughout the week:

Darryn Peterson - USA (Guard)

Peterson had a relatively quiet (by his standards) performance in the gold medal game, finishing with 13 points and 7 rebounds against Canada.

The 6'5 guard, however, was the team's second-leading scorer during the week (tied with Boozer) at 16.8 points per game (only Koa Peat, at 17.2, scored more).

Peterson shot a scorching hot 66.7 percent from the field (2nd highest mark in the tournament behind Brazil's Fabricio De Freitas) and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc (2nd behind Dominican Republic's Lucas Morillo) on 2.3 attempts per game. Most importantly, he did all that work on just 17.7 minutes per night.

Peterson also averaged 3.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists and led Team USA in steals (3.3 per game).

Felipe Quinones - Puerto Rico (Shooting guard)

Quiñones led Puerto Rico to 3rd place, scoring 28 points in the bronze medal game against Argentina on Sunday.

The 15-year-old was the tournament's second leading scorer (18.1 points) and contributed 4.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 31.8 minutes per game.

He shot 38.5 percent from the field, 34.5 percent from beyond the arc and 77.8 percent at the charity stripe on 6.0 attempts per game.

Quiñones was key in Puerto Rico's overtime win over Brazil in the quarterfinals, where he finished with a 24 efficiency rating.

Paul Osaruyi - Canada (Power Foward)

Osaruyi had an off night in the final against the United States (7 points in 3/13 from the field) but finished in the Top 10 in points, rebounds and blocks while leading Canada to the silver medal.

The 6'8 power forward averaged 14.8 points (8th best mark in the tournament), 8.3 rebounds (7th) and 1.3 blocks (8th) for a Canadian squad that finished the week with a 5-1 record.

The 15-year-old also tied Mexico's Karim López with 4 double-doubles to lead the event.

Iván Pratto - Argentina (Center)

Playing in his second FIBA Americas U16 Championship after being part of the Argentina roster in 2021, Pratto was the bona fide star of a squad that finished in 4th place after losing to Puerto Rico on Sunday.

Pratto averaged 13.2 points, 10.3 rebounds (4th best mark in the tournament), 1.7 blocks (6th best) and 1.5 assists while shooting 47.1 percent from the field in 27 minutes per game.

The Pallacanestro Varese (Italy) prospect had a massive 28-point, 25-rebound double-double in the quarterfinals against Dominican Republic on a game where he also added 6 blocks and a pair of three-pointers.

FIBA