# 1997 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes

The 1997 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes was the 12th edition of the European basketball championship for U16 women's teams, today known as FIBA U16 Women's European Championship. 12 teams featured in the competition, held in Sopron, Hungary, from 18 to 27 July 1997.
Russia won their third title in a row.

## Qualification

19 countries entered the qualification round. They were divided in three groups. The top three teams of each group qualified for the main tournament.
Hungary (as host), Russia (as incumbent champion) and Italy (as incumbent runner-up) received a bye to the main tournament and did not play in the qualification round.

### Group A

The games were played in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, from August 12 to 16, 1996.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Yugoslavia | 5 | 5 | 0 | 299 | 242 | +57 | 10 | Final tournament | — | 59–49 | 54–53 | 62–53 | 53–44 | 71–43 |
| 2 | Belgium | 5 | 3 | 2 | 330 | 295 | +35 | 8 | Final tournament | | — | 64–56 | 79–62 | 60–71 | 78–47 |
| 3 | Poland | 5 | 3 | 2 | 311 | 260 | +51 | 8 | Final tournament | | | — | 82–50 | 59–53 | 61–39 |
| 4 | Bulgaria (H) | 5 | 2 | 3 | 331 | 350 | −19 | 7 | | | | | — | 72–70 | 94–57 |
| 5 | Slovakia | 5 | 2 | 3 | 314 | 285 | +29 | 7 | | | | | | — | 76–41 |
| 6 | Armenia | 5 | 0 | 5 | 227 | 380 | −153 | 5 | | | | | | | — |

### Group B

The games were played in Žďár nad Sázavou, the Czech Republic, from August 18 to 24, 1996.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | | |
| 1 | Czech Republic (H) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 442 | 275 | +167 | 12 | Final tournament | — | 79–60 | 57–56 | 81–54 | 74–46 | 66–39 | 85–20 |
| 2 | Belarus | 6 | 5 | 1 | 465 | 347 | +118 | 11 | Final tournament | | — | 88–81 | 87–53 | 85–45 | 70–50 | 75–39 |
| 3 | Croatia | 6 | 3 | 3 | 416 | 326 | +90 | 9 | Final tournament | | | — | 73–36 | 71–45 | 58–62 | 77–38 |
| 4 | Lithuania | 6 | 3 | 3 | 337 | 384 | −47 | 9 | | | | | — | 55–40 | 70–59 | 69–44 |
| 5 | Finland | 6 | 2 | 4 | 305 | 404 | −99 | 8 | | | | | | — | 64–58 | 65–61 |
| 6 | Israel | 6 | 2 | 4 | 331 | 365 | −34 | 8 | | | | | | | — | 63–37 |
| 7 | Portugal | 6 | 0 | 6 | 239 | 434 | −195 | 6 | | | | | | | | — |

### Group C

The games were played in Timișoara, Romania, from August 13 to 17, 1996.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Spain | 5 | 5 | 0 | 363 | 226 | +137 | 10 | Final tournament | — | 91–54 | 66–44 | 53–47 | 62–37 | 91–44 |
| 2 | Romania (H) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 281 | 320 | −39 | 8 | Final tournament | | — | 65–61 | 45–41 | 54–77 | 63–50 |
| 3 | France | 5 | 3 | 2 | 268 | 249 | +19 | 8 | Final tournament | | | — | 47–43 | 70–37 | 46–38 |
| 4 | Greece | 5 | 2 | 3 | 247 | 234 | +13 | 7 | | | | | — | 48–35 | 68–54 |
| 5 | Germany | 5 | 2 | 3 | 256 | 292 | −36 | 7 | | | | | | — | 70–58 |
| 6 | Turkey | 5 | 0 | 5 | 244 | 338 | −94 | 5 | | | | | | | — |

## Qualified teams

The following twelve teams qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Method of qualification | Finals appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance |
| Hungary | Hosts | 10th | 1993 | Runners-up (1976) |
| Russia | 1995 winners | 3rd | 1995 | Champions (1993, 1995) |
| Italy | 1995 runner-up | 12th | 1995 | Runners-up (1978, 1980, 1985, 1995) |
| Yugoslavia | Qualification round Group A winners | 10th | 1991 | Runners-up (1982, 1991) |
| Belgium | Qualification round Group A runners-up | 7th | 1995 | 3rd (1995) |
| Poland | Qualification round Group A third place | 8th | 1995 | 5th (1976, 1978) |
| Czech Republic | Qualification round Group B winners | 2nd | 1995 | 8th (1995) |
| Belarus | Qualification round Group B runners-up | 2nd | 1995 | 5th (1995) |
| Croatia | Qualification round Group B third place | 2nd | 1993 | 12th (1993) |
| Spain | Qualification round Group C winners | 12th | 1995 | Runners-up (1993) |
| Romania | Qualification round Group C runners-up | 8th | 1991 | Runners-up (1989) |
| France | Qualification round Group C third place | 10th | 1993 | 6th (1987, 1993) |

## Preliminary round

In the preliminary round, the twelve teams were allocated in two groups of six teams each. The top four teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals. The last two teams of each group qualified for the 9th-12th playoffs.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Hungary | 5 | 3 | 2 | 309 | 308 | +1 | 8 | Advance to quarter-finals | — | 58–57 | 58–56 | 49–59 | 66–56 | 78–80 |
| 2 | France | 5 | 3 | 2 | 280 | 264 | +16 | 8 | Advance to quarter-finals | | — | 65–55 | 53–49 | 43–50 | 62–52 |
| 3 | Croatia | 5 | 3 | 2 | 303 | 284 | +19 | 8 | Advance to quarter-finals | | | — | 59–57 | 69–53 | 64–51 |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 5 | 3 | 2 | 294 | 264 | +30 | 8 | Advance to quarter-finals | | | | — | 66–62 | 63–41 |
| 5 | Italy | 5 | 2 | 3 | 287 | 302 | −15 | 7 | Transfer to 9th–12th playoff | | | | | — | 66–58 |
| 6 | Romania | 5 | 1 | 4 | 282 | 333 | −51 | 6 | Transfer to 9th–12th playoff | | | | | | — |
* 1 2 3 4 The four teams were first ranked by their head-to-head records: HUN 2–1, FRA 2–1, CRO 1–2, CZE 1–2. Then, Hungary/France and Croatia/Czech Republic were ranked by their game result (HUN 58–57 FRA) / (CRO 59–57 CZE).

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Spain | 5 | 5 | 0 | 349 | 271 | +78 | 10 | Advance to quarter-finals | — | 70–68 | 74–46 | 59–56 | 69–49 | 77–52 |
| 2 | Russia | 5 | 4 | 1 | 384 | 288 | +96 | 9 | Advance to quarter-finals | | — | 67–50 | 88–56 | 78–66 | 83–46 |
| 3 | Yugoslavia | 5 | 3 | 2 | 322 | 336 | −14 | 8 | Advance to quarter-finals | | | — | 73–70 | 73–65 | 80–60 |
| 4 | Belarus | 5 | 2 | 3 | 343 | 343 | 0 | 7 | Advance to quarter-finals | | | | — | 77–64 | 84–59 |
| 5 | Poland | 5 | 1 | 4 | 304 | 349 | −45 | 6 | Transfer to 9th–12th playoff | | | | | — | 60–52 |
| 6 | Belgium | 5 | 0 | 5 | 269 | 384 | −115 | 5 | Transfer to 9th–12th playoff | | | | | | — |

## Playoffs
### 9th-12th playoff

| Semifinals | Semifinals | 9th place game | 9th place game |
| July 25 | July 25 |
| Italy | 69 |
| Italy | 69 | July 26 | July 26 |
| Belgium | 75 | July 26 | July 26 |
| Belgium | 75 | Belgium | 62 |
| July 25 | July 25 | | Belgium | 62 |
| July 25 | July 25 | Poland | 79 |
| Poland | 81 | Poland | 79 |
| Romania | 76 | | |
| Romania | 76 | 11th place game | 11th place game |
| | | July 26 | July 26 |
| | | Italy | 72 |
| | | Romania | 63 |

### Championship playoff

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final |
| July 25 | July 25 | | | |
| Russia | 67 | | | |
| Russia | 67 | July 26 | July 26 | | |
| Croatia | 56 | July 26 | July 26 | |
| Croatia | 56 | Russia | 61 | |
| July 25 | July 25 | | Russia | 61 | |
| July 25 | July 25 | Belarus | 31 | |
| Hungary | 71 | Belarus | 31 | |
| Hungary | 71 | | | | July 27 | July 27 |
| Belarus | 81 | | | | July 27 | July 27 |
| Belarus | 81 | | | | Russia | 69 |
| July 25 | July 25 | | | | | Russia | 69 |
| July 25 | July 25 | | | | Czech Republic | 60 |
| France | 58 | | | | Czech Republic | 60 |
| France | 58 | July 26 | July 26 | | | |
| Yugoslavia | 44 | July 26 | July 26 | | | |
| Yugoslavia | 44 | France | 53 | | | |
| July 25 | July 25 | | France | 53 | | | |
| July 25 | July 25 | Czech Republic | 67 | | Bronze game | Bronze game |
| Spain | 43 | Czech Republic | 67 | | Bronze game | Bronze game |
| Spain | 43 | | | | July 27 | July 27 |
| Czech Republic | 49 | | | | July 27 | July 27 |
| Czech Republic | 49 | | | | France | 66 |
| | | | | | Belarus | 62 |

#### 5th-8th playoff

| Semifinals | Semifinals | 5th place game | 5th place game |
| July 26 | July 26 |
| Croatia | 75 |
| Croatia | 75 | July 27 | July 27 |
| Hungary | 39 | July 27 | July 27 |
| Hungary | 39 | Croatia | 42 |
| July 26 | July 26 | | Croatia | 42 |
| July 26 | July 26 | Spain | 61 |
| Yugoslavia | 63 | Spain | 61 |
| Spain | 74 | | |
| Spain | 74 | 7th place game | 7th place game |
| | | July 27 | July 27 |
| | | Hungary | 64 |
| | | Yugoslavia | 84 |

## Final standings

| Rank | Team |
| | Russia |
| | Czech Republic |
| | France |
| 4th | Belarus |
| 5th | Spain |
| 6th | Croatia |
| 7th | Yugoslavia |
| 8th | Hungary |
| 9th | Poland |
| 10th | Belgium |
| 11th | Italy |
| 12th | Romania |
* 1997 FIBA Europe Women's Under-16 Championship winners
* Russia 3rd title

## Statistical leaders

| Name | PPG |
| Marta Fernández | 21.3 |
| Laurence Van Malderen | 18.4 |
| Dorota Kepa | 18.4 |
| Milka Bjelica | 17.6 |
| Eva Vítečková | 17.1 |
| Name | RPG |
| Olga Zytomirska | 9.1 |
| Ivana Stojković | 8.8 |
| Eva Vítečková | 8.8 |
| Laurence Van Malderen | 8.7 |
| Oksana Chetko | 8.4 |
| Anna Statsenko | 8.4 |
| Name | APG |
| Kathy Wambe | 3.4 |
| Marta Fernández | 3.1 |
| Dea Klein-Šumanovac | 3.0 |
| Brankica Hadžović | 2.8 |
| Markéta Bednářová | 2.5 |
| Rosa Pérez | 2.5 |