ST. CATHARINES, ONTARIO — Three players, three countries, one AAU team.

That's how it's shaping up for three guys from the New York-based PSA Cardinals of the Nike EYBL circuit at this week's FIBA Americas U18 Championship.

Cole Anthony (USA), Maxwell Lorca-Lloyd (Chile), and Joel Soriano (Dominican Republic) all attend high schools in the Northeast but are each competing for different nations here.

"These three are clear examples of guys utilizing the platform basketball can provide you," said PSA Cardinals director Terrance "Munch" Williams, who traveled to Canada to watch his guys. "To take off their PSA Cardinals jersey, leave the state of New York, and represent your country should be seen as nothing short of priceless.

"They are not only traveling to enjoy the competition in front of them but without knowing it, positioning themselves to be on a short list of individuals looked at to one day be professional basketball players for their given countries. Needless to say, they’re owning their destiny."

Photo by Adam Zagoria

Entering Thursday's quarterfinals, Lorca-Lloyd and Anthony were among the top 10 scorers in the event, with the 6-foot-9 Lorca-Lloyd the sixth-leading scorer at 16.0 points per game and the 6-3 Anthony eighth at 15.3 points per game. The 6-11 Soriano was ranked 23rd at 10.3 points a game.

Lorca-Lloyd, a Brooklyn native who attends Northfield Mount Hermon (MA), is also the event's leading rebounder at 11.3 caroms per game, with Anthony ranked sixth in assists at 3.7 per game.

Lorca-Lloyd, whose dad is from Chile, said the diversity on the PSA Cardinals reflects the fact that basketball is now truly an international game. Opening-night rosters in the NBA this year featured 108 players from 42 countries and territories.

"[Basketball] is getting bigger and bigger each year," Lorca-Lloyd said. "Just the talent you see throughout the world, the amount of guys you see in the NBA Draft that you see from overseas, the number's getting higher and higher each year. "

6-foot-10 @maxlorcalloyd of @PSACardinals and @NMHbasketball is averaging a double-double for Chile at the FIBA U18s -- 16.0 ppg and a tournament-best 11.3 rpg.

Visiting Harvard and Stanford in September. https://t.co/IMRQyoDam9

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) June 14, 2018

Lorca-Lloyd, who is being recruited by the likes of Harvard, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Penn, and Georgetown, is also getting a chance to work on his Spanish while playing with Chile, since many of his teammates only speak some English.

"A little bit," he said of his teammates. "I understand a lot more Spanish than I speak but it's not too bad."

Anthony, meantime, only has to worry about speaking English on the USA team that is favored to win gold.

He is one of seven uncommitted high school players on the American team that has drawn a slew of high-profile college coaches to Canada, including Kentucky's John Calipari, Louisville's Chris Mack, and Michigan's John Beilein for Anthony, among others. Duke is also heavily involved for Anthony, the son of former NBA point guard Greg Anthony.

Anthony, who finished his junior year at famed Archbishop Molloy High School, insists he's open in his recruitment and won't make a decision until next spring.

"My recruitment, I'm wide open," he said. "We have no idea when [a decision] is going to happen."

College coaches flocking to Canada for Cole Anthony, USA U18 team
https://t.co/THmCZ6skwA@The_ColeAnthony@PSACardinals@USABasketball@overtime

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) June 9, 2018

First things first. Anthony is focused on trying to win a gold medal here under Kansas and Team USA coach Bill Self. 

"Most definitely, I look forward to playing every team we can here," he said.

As for Soriano, both of his parents are Dominican and he's been there "a lot of times," so he considers it an "honor" to represent the island nation.

He's one of several Dominican players with ties to American high schools. His Dominican teammate Alanzo Frink won the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title this year at Roselle (NJ) Catholic and will attend South Carolina next season, while his other Dominican teammate Lester Quinones is highly-recruited shooting guard out of St. Benedict's Prep (NJ).

Soriano is the lone member of the PSA Cardinals trio to have committed to a school. The Archbishop Stepinac product will suit up for Fordham beginning in 2019 after he spends a post-graduate year at a prep school in 2018-19.

"Fordham just stood out and always recruited me hard," he said. "'I thought it was a great fit educational-wise.

"I'll bring my hard work ethic, a lot of defense and I'm working on my offense," he added.

The three players have bonded at the event even though they play at different times, taking time to pose for a picture together.

"It's great, it's a family thing," Soriano said. "It's really a proud moment for our program because Mohamed Bamba and Quade Green started it playing for Team USA so we're just trying to keep it moving."

After the FIBA Americas, the players will regroup and compete in the Peach Jam for the PSA Cardinals July 11-15 in North Augusta, South Carolina — which you can watch live here on FloHoops.

Led by Green and Bamba, the Cardinals lost in the Peach Jam final in 2016 to a Mokan Elite team led by projected NBA lottery picks Trae Young and Michael Porter Jr.

Now Anthony says it's his team's time to win Peach Jam.

“I definitely owe PSA Cardinals a Peach Jam championship, so I’m going to do all I can to get us that W,” he said. “Work as hard as I can, make sure my team is locked in.”

Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who runs ZAGSBLOG.com and contributes to The New York Times. Follow Adam on Twitter.