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Ryan Boatright of the United States shoots over Argentina’s Pablo Ignacio Perez on Monday.

Ryan Boatright of the United States shoots over Argentina’s Pablo Ignacio Perez on Monday. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

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MANNHEIM, Germany — The U.S. entry in the 25th Albert Schweitzer International Youth Basketball Tournament rolls into Wednesday nights’s medal-round faceoff against Spain after playing the best game in its one-week history on Monday.

"In a week, we’ve come a long way," U.S. coach Larry Krystkowiak said after his pick-up team of all-stars downed Argentina’s junior national team 61-53 Monday night in a pool-play game that ensured the Americans of a place in the top eight of the 16-team field. "It’s been really enjoyable."

The Americans, who began the biennial event with a 76-66 overtime exhibition loss last Thursday against Germany’s Under-18 national team, demonstrated Monday that they’ve caught the crest of the learning curve. Coming just one day after a 67-66 loss to then-unbeaten France, the victory against Argentina handed the Americans their pool’s top seed after tiebreakers sorted out the order of finish among the U.S., Croatia and France. All three finished Round 1 with 2-1 records. Only the top two stayed alive for the medals, and when France lost to Croatia 70-62 on Monday afternoon, the order of the day for the Americans was clear.

"I did all the math," Krystkowiak said about his pregame calculations of the task facing the U.S. against Argentina, "and once France lost, all we had to do was win."

Unlike its previous two pool-play games — the loss to France and a 71-69 victory over Croatia — in which it squandered late leads, the U.S. was in control against Argentina from the opening tip.

After Kevin Ware of Rockdale County, Ga., High School, who finished with 14 points, put the U.S. up 2-0, the Americans never trailed. Argentina, which fell to 0-3, got the score evened four times over the next 38 minutes, but each time the U.S. responded, leading by as many as 10 points at times.

Krystkowiak credited his team’s defensive effort for the outcome.

"Defensively, we played the best we could play," he said. "To hold them to 53 points with a 24-second shot clock was remarkable."

Ryan Boatright of East Aurora, Ill., High School scored a game-high 21 points for the U.S. and summarized the mind-set the Americans took to the floor on Monday.

"We had to come out and win," he said. "We didn’t come over here to play for ninth place."

Monday’s victory kept American hopes alive for a tourney-record 11th gold medal. But the Americans haven’t won since 1996, and Krystkowiak emphasized to his team that Monday’s euphoria would have to give way to the continuing process of growth.

"We’re happy about the win," said Krystkowiak, who played nine seasons in the NBA and coached the Milwaukee Bucks, "but I told them it’s just like winning a first-round playoff series in the NBA. You haven’t won anything yet. You just get the chance to play on."

U.S.A 61, Argentina 53(Pool play Monday at Mannheim)

Argentina 11 14 16 12—53U.S.A. 14 11 23 13—61Scoring—Argentina: Fernando Podesta 19, German Abel Ressia 12, Marcos Delia 6, Joel Comba 5, Pablo Ignacio Perez 4, Carlos Paredes 3, Nicolas Copello 2, Lucas Diaz 2; U.S.A.: Ryan Boatright 21, Kevin Ware 14, Mike Chandler 6, Damian Leonard 6, Royce Woolridge 6, Chris Manhertz 4, Marshall Plumlee 4

Rebounding—Argentina 39 (12 offensive, 27 defensive); U.S.A. 44 (14 offensive, 30 defensive) Plumlee 9, Chandler 7, Manhertz 6, Woolridge 6. Free throws—Argentina 9-for-16; U.S.A. 5-for-9. Field goals—Argentina 20-for-60, 33 percent, 4-for-17 three-point shots; U.S.A.: 24-for-63, 38 percent, 8-for-20 three-point shots.

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