Canadian wheelchair basketball women know how to get over losses

RIO DE JANEIRO — The Canadian women's wheelchair basketball team doesn't need to look far for a lesson on how to react to a loss against its German rivals.

At the 2014 world championships held in Toronto, the Canadian women took their first and only loss of the tournament to Germany, 64-54. Canada rose to the challenge following that setback with three straight wins to reach the final, where they defeated those same Germans to win the gold medal on their home court.

Following a 68-54 loss to Germany on Sunday, Canada's first defeat of the Rio 2016 Paralympics, head coach Bill Johnson is confident that his team will rebound as an even stronger group.

"I think adversity is important to a team in an event like this," said Johnson, who has been leading the national team since 2009. "I like to have adversity and win, unfortunately it didn't work out that way today, but I think we can really take some lessons from this."

Through retirements and the influx of new athletes, the landscape of wheelchair basketball can change a great deal in just two years, but Canada and Germany both remain strong medal threats after their one-two finish in 2014.

The two countries frequently match up internationally, and at the recent Continental Clash in Great Britain, Canada actually came out on top 63-54 against Germany.

Janet McLachlan, a veteran national team player in her third Paralympics who's also played wheelchair basketball professionally in Germany, has grown extremely familiar with the German roster and style of play through her experiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

"They're all familiar. Canada and Germany play each other more times than I wish to count every year," McLachlan said. "We know each other very well at this point."

Canada's group has tightened up at the top as Great Britain and Germany hold the same 2-1 record but rank ahead of them due to point differential. The top four teams from each five-team group advanced to the playoff round, and Canada's final preliminary game comes against the home Brazilians on Monday at 10:45 a.m. ET.

Brazil's crowd seems to have adopted the Canadians, both in men's and women's competition. As the women's team help up its large banner to thank the Brazilian fans and organizers following the loss, something both Canadian teams do after their games, a loud Carioca Arena 1 crowd cheered them off with a chant of "Ca-na-da! Ca-na-da!"

"It's always great to have crowd support, and at a Paralympics it's fantastic," said McLachlan. "Our next game against Brazil, things will be a little different, but hopefully they'll still cheer for us too."