Gryphons silence Reds
Megan Louws did it at both ends of the court for the Greater Fort Erie Gryphons Tuesday.
The 16-year-old, Grade 11 student poured in 25 points and was also a force on defence as the Greater Fort Erie Gryphons defeated the Denis Morris Reds 54-31 at DM in an opening-round game of the 19th Annual Standard Girls Basketball Tournament.
Gryphons coach Dave Adamyk couldn’t say enough good things about his star guard.
“She’s a core piece of our team for sure,” he said. “She’s so fast and the way she attacks the basket off the dribble, especially with her left hand, I don’t know if there’s anybody in the tournament who does a better job at that.”
Adamyk also appreciates Louws’ work at the other end of the court.
“She’s fantastic defensively,” he said. “She can guard anybody. She can bang with the big bodies, inside against the post players, and she can guard the most athletic player on the other team as well.
“Man, oh, man, is it ever nice to have a player like that.”
Louws was modest when talking about her contributions to the team.
“Basically get the ball and drive the ball and do fast breaks a lot,” she said, when asked for her role.
The Gryphons, who lost to Grimsby in last year’s consolation final, now have a chance to see how they fare on the championship side.
“It’s really exciting because we didn’t lose the first game,” Louws said. “It’s exciting to have a shot, especially since we’re a new school.”
Adamyk was proud of the improvement show by his squad.
“It’s really exciting. It’s pretty much the same team as last year so I was kind of expecting us to improve and we have. We’re a little bit stronger than we were last year.
“I’m excited how we played today. I wasn’t expecting a 20-point victory any means. I came in here and hadn’t seen DM play but looking at their results, I expected them to be a pretty good team and they were.”
The Gryphons managed to quiet down a raucous DM crowd with a solid start to lead 18-15 after one quarter.
“(We wanted to) just to get off on the fast break and not make silly mistakes and stuff and not to let all the fans get into our heads,” Louws said. “It was pretty intimidating but you just have to block it out.”
Adamyk gave props his offence.
“We hit shots today. We hit a lot of threes, especially at the start. And when you’re hitting threes like that, you’re going to win games.
“Denis Morris went on the run in the second quarter and that fired everyone up in the crowd. It got really loud for a little while but then we were able to collect ourselves and then go on a little run of our own and you could just hear the volume really drop.”
Stats Pack
Johnny Rocco’s/Mick and Angelo’s Player of the Game: Fort Erie’s Megan Louws with 25 points.
For the Fort Erie Gryphons: Louws 25; Taylor Doyle 13; Emily Patrick 9; Candice Goulding 4; Kaitlyn Gregory 3; Kailee Barnett 2.
For the Denis Morris Reds: Lexus Bell 12; Jordyn Britton 9; Cayla Mirabella 6; Victoria Kaufman 4; Rayshell Nyamaekye 2.
Redcoats 35 Lynx 33
Allison Addy poured in a game-high 19 points as the Governor Simcoe Redcoats held off the Jean Vanier Lynx at Simcoe.
Also scoring for the Redcoats were: Jennika McIntosh 6; Raiya Millin 5; Mia Friesen 2.
Scoring for the Lynx were: Isabelle Sinclair 15; Corrynn Parker 14; Kimberly Brinker 3; Penny Gomes.
Thunder 67 Golden Eagles 18
Mia DiPasquale canned 12 points in the first half to lead the Blessed Trinity Thunder past the Thorold Eagles.
Also scoring for the Thunder were: Ella Muraca 9; Katrina Shields 9; Olivia Gaspich 8; Madison O’Brien 7; Olivia Iannotta 6; Makayla Giddings 5; Lexia Poitras 5; Kaelin Sutor 4; Tia Pucci 4; Alexandra Phillips 2.
Scoring for the Golden Eagles were: Mia Nicholson 8; Dior Arbuthnot 3; Abi VanValkenburg 2; Riley Humaniski 2; Cantrina Ragoor 2; Brooklyn Brown 1
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