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.

1997 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes

12th FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women
Tournament details
Host country	Hungary
Dates	18–27 July 1997
Teams	12
Venue(s)	(in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Russia (3rd title)
Tournament statistics
Top scorer	Fernández (21.3)
Top rebounds	Zytomirska (9.1)
Top assists	Wambe (3.4)
PPG (Team)	Russia (72.6)
RPG (Team)	Poland (33.3)
APG (Team)	Russia  Spain (9.9)
← 1995 1999 →

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				—	64–56	79–62	60–71	78–47
3	Poland	5	3	2	311	260	+51	8					—	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								—

Source: FIBA Archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record.
(H) Hosts

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				—	88–81	87–53	85–45	70–50	75–39
3	Croatia	6	3	3	416	326	+90	9					—	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									—

Source: FIBA Archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record.
(H) Hosts

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				—	65–61	45–41	54–77	63–50
3	France	5	3	2	268	249	+19	8					—	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								—

Source: FIBA Archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record.
(H) Hosts

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[note 1]	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[a]	Advance to quarter-finals		—	58–57	58–56	49–59	66–56	78–80
2	France	5	3	2	280	264	+16	8[a]				—	65–55	53–49	43–50	62–52
3	Croatia	5	3	2	303	284	+19	8[a]					—	59–57	69–53	64–51
4	Czech Republic	5	3	2	294	264	+30	8[a]						—	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								—

Source: FIBA Archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record.
Notes:

1. 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				—	67–50	88–56	78–66	83–46
3	Yugoslavia	5	3	2	322	336	−14	8					—	73–70	73–65	80–60
4	Belarus	5	2	3	343	343	0	7						—	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								—

Source: FIBA Archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record.

Playoffs

9th-12th playoff

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

Championship playoff

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

5th-8th playoff

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

Points[1] Name PPG Marta Fernández 21.3 Laurence Van Malderen 18.4 Dorota Kepa Milka Bjelica 17.6 Eva Vítečková 17.1

Rebounds[2] Name RPG Olga Zytomirska 9.1 Ivana Stojković 8.8 Eva Vítečková Laurence Van Malderen 8.7 Oksana Chetko 8.4 Anna Statsenko

Assists[3] 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

Notes

1. First appearance as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. They made nine more appearances as part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. FIBA considers the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as successor of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.