Hales helps Thorold past Crossley
Kadence Hales has been a constant for the Thorold Golden Eagles in this week’s Third Annual BPSN Girls Basketball Tournament.
The Grade 11 player is averaging 15 points a game and Thursday night at Governor Simcoe, she netted 14 to help Thorold defeat the E.L. Crossley Cyclone 40-35 in the consolation semifinals.
“Kadence has just elevated us. We haven’t had that club player in a long time and having that scoring threat keeps you in games,” Thorold head coach Andrew Thomson said. “When in doubt, she can calm us down and she has been the force that has been driving us so far.”
Hales has also done a great job of distributing the ball out of double teams.
“She has got a good IQ. Sometimes she will force it but a lot of times she will swing it around and when we need her to get a big basket she is also there for us,” he said.
Hales is just excited to be back on the court.
The 15-year-old partially tore her ACL in February and it had been a long recovery to get her back on the court.
“I am pretty much there and my physio says I am getting really, really strong. As long as I feel OK, he told me it was OK for me to play.”
The 15-year plays her travel ball with the Pelham Panthers.
“I have been playing since U10 and it has been a great experience. I love playing for Pelham and it really helps me to get into school sports. It is nice to have something that I enjoy and can do every year and it helps me to take a break from everything else that is going on.
That travel experience is crucial for Thorold as Hales is comfortable being the main scoring option for the Golden Eagles.
“I also want to give everybody else a chance. It is high school basketball and you have to give everyone that chance and make it the best possible experience for everybody.”
Her passing and shooting abilities were honed during her recovery from the knee injury.
“During my rehab, I couldn’t really run so it was all passing and form shooting and going back to the basics. I kind of used that time to improve as much as I could.”
The Cyclone grabbed a 4-0 lead to open the game before Thorold went on a 13-0 run that had Crossley chasing the game for the final three quarters. They cut the lead to 33-29 early in the fourth quarter but that is as close as they would get.
“We couldn’t make a basket. There was not a chance that we were making a basket,” Crossley head coach Aaron Belding said of the start. “It was focus, I guess. It was our third game in three days and the girls hadn’t played before the tournament so it was fatigue, being tired and not ready to play a tough opponent.”
That being said, the Cyclone never quit.
“The girls are resilient and we made some tweaks in strategy and got them to run some different plays and we made a game of it.”
Thomson agreed the quick start was the key part of the game.
“We sometimes start slow so it was great start by our girls. We put them in the press to get them going and we couldn’t have asked for a better start.”
Thorold defeated Crossley by playing unselfish basketball and always looking for the open man.
“It has been a work in progress and this group has come together very nicely after we resolved some chemistry issues. I couldn’t have asked more from them today. They were fantastic,” he said.
The chemistry issues date back to last season.
“We have been talking and working on it. We lost to Crossley in this situation last year (BPSN consolation semifinals) and they came back with a much better mindset and were able to get the W,” Thomson said. “We talked about that game a little and our guard No. 2 (Tiana Hicks) that was the best game I have seen her play in three years.”
STATS PACK
Golden Eagles 40 Cyclone 35
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Thorold’s Kaydence Hales with 14 points.
For the Thorold Golden Eagles: Anna Hammond 15; Hales 14; Portia Watts 8; Hannah Guignard 2; Tiana Hicks 1.
For the E.L. Crossley Cyclone: Katie Luciani 11; Addie Falardeau 8; Amelia Silokowsky 8; Leah Waselovich 6; Sarah Lowry 2.
Up next: Thorold advances to the consolation finals Friday at 6 p.m. at Governor Simcoe.
The tournament is made possible with the help of Women Networking in Sports of Niagara, Tora Inc., Regional Doors and Hardware, Bromac Construction Inc., the Brock women’s basketball program, Alltech Automotive, St. Catharines CYO Basketball, Pelham Panthers basketball, Niagara Falls Red Raiders basketball, Niagara Rangers basketball, Lasting Images, the Niagara District Referees Association, the District School Board of Niagara and the Niagara Catholic District School Board.
