Irish end season on winning note
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish senior girls basketball team ended its season on a winning note Monday at Brock University.
After losing last week to the A.N. Myer Marauders in the Zone 3 AAA championship game, the Irish captured the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association championship with a 52-46 victory over the Blessed Trinity Thunder, the NCAA regular season champions and the Zone 4 AAA champions.
“It was a nice surprise for the girls,” Notre Dame head coach Agi Mete said.
Notre Dame tied for second in NCAA league play with St. Francis with a 5-2 record.
“It was a transition year for us,” Mete said. “We brought up some young girls to fill in some spots and we cobbled together a pretty good season.
“We are very happy with how things turned out for us this year.”
Given the team’s young core, Mete is excited about the future of Irish basketball. The team lost to BT by four in regular season play, made it to the semifinals of the Tribune tournament and won a tournament in Halton.
“We’ve had some ups and downs, but we stuck together,” Mete said.
Playing well for Notre Dame all season was Grade 10 player Emily Foest, who had a game-high 23 points Monday versus Blessed Trinity.
“Emily is a volleyball player, first and foremost, but she played basketball when she was growing up,” Mete said. “She is just an athlete and her volleyball skills make her strong on the rebounds. And she is smart.”
Foest, one of four Grade 10s among the seven Notre Dame hoopsters playing Monday, agrees volleyball is her No. 1 priority.
“I didn’t play basketball, but I used to and I started again with school,” the 15-year-old said. “It’s fun to get back into it.”
Foest is a member of the Halton Hurricanes travel volleyball program. Last year, she was part of a Halton team that won the nationals in her age group.
“I want to start playing basketball again, but I am really busy with volleyball,” she said. “But I enjoy it, so I am probably going to play for the rest of high school.”
Foest loved ending her high school basketball season with a victory.
“Coming into it, I wasn’t sure if we were going to win, but I am really happy with how we played,” she said. “We didn’t give up all game and we just keep going.”
Playing with only seven players was nothing new for the Irish.
“We struggled all season with not having a lot of players, but I’m glad we had enough to play,” Foest said.
Blessed Trinity struggled Monday, missing countless easy buckets and clunking its way to 4-14 performance from the free-throw line.
“It was awful,” BT head coach John DiPasquale said. “I am embarrassed. I really am but it’s better that it happens here — no disrespect to this game — than if it happens on Thursday.”
The Thunder are at Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton on Thursday to compete in the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association AAA championships.
“I got the sense that this was about to happen because a few things just weren’t right with our team,” DiPasquale said. “The performers have to perform and they know that and we have to sort this out.
“We have two days to sort this out or we have problems.”
DiPasquale complimented Notre Dame on its play.
“Those kids were great,” he said. “They came out to play and they hit their shots. And you can see the chemistry because they find each other on the floor nicely.”
STATS PACK
Fighting Irish 52 Thunder 46.
Mick and Angelo’s/Johnny Rocco’s Player of the Game: Notre Dame’s Emily Foest with a game-high 23 points, including 10 in the final quarter.
For the Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Foest 23; Alissa Mete 20; Abigale Phillips 4; Emma Angelo 2; Taylor Demers 2; Sophia Belcastro 1.
For the Blessed Trinity Thunder: Mia DiPasquale 18; Ella Muraca 9; Olivia Iannotta 6; Lexia Poitras 3; Kaelin Sutor 3; Kat Shields 2; Makayla Giddings 2; Olivia Gaspich 2; Maddie O’Brien 1.
