Paul VI's Hannah Hidalgo earns gold medal with USA U-17 team

Paul VI rising senior Hannah Hidalgo had the experience of a lifetime that ended on Sunday with being part of a gold medal-winning basketball team.

Hidalgo, a 5-foot-7 combination guard, was part of USA Basketball’s Under-17 team that won the 2022 FIBA Women’s U-17 World Cup. The U.S. defeated Spain, 84-62 during Sunday’s final at Fonix Hall in Debrecen, Hungary.

In the championship game, Hidalgo played 12 minutes and had four points, two rebounds and two steals.

This was the second straight championship for the U-17 team and fifth all time.

It also continues USA’s world dominance in women’s basketball.
At the highest level, the USA senior team has won seven straight Olympic gold medals, the most recent in 2020. During those last seven tournaments, the USA is 54-0.

During this recent tournament, the USA U-17 team went 7-0.

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The 22-point win in the title game was the USA’s lowest margin of victory in the seven games. For the tournament, the USA had an average margin of victory of 53.4 points.

In the seven games, Hidalgo averaged 16.3 minutes, 7.7 points, 2.9 assists and 2.1 rebounds. She also had an average of a plus-11.3

Her best game was the second for the USA, a 102-34 win over New Zealand. She scored 16 points and added four rebounds and three assists in 16 minutes.

With all the talent in the USA, imagine what it took just to be a member of this team.

For Hidalgo, this continues what has been an incredible career.
This past season Hidalgo averaged 26.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists and 6.2 steals for a 24-4 Paul VI team that didn’t lose a game to a team from the seven-county South Jersey area and was the consensus No. 1 team.

Paul VI, coached by Orlando Hidalgo, Hannah’s father, advanced to the South Jersey Non-Public A final before losing 69-50 to St. John Vianney, the consensus No. 1 team in the state.

This season she played shooting guard for Paul VI, but her future is at the point, although she more than showed she has the versatility to play on or off the ball.

ESPN has ranked her the No. 5 player in the class of 2023.
Hidalgo has not made a college decision but said before the FIBA tournament that she would concentrate on recruiting after the tourney was over.

She will have no shortage of suitors.
There is no telling how much her game has improved this summer, playing in practice against the best players in the country and then competing against the best in the world.

Photo courtesy of USA Basketball Twitter

Author: Marc Narducci