Piekny battles back
It’s safe to say no one enjoyed being on the court more Tuesday than Claire Piekny.
The 17-year-old, Grade 12 student canned 14 points as the E.L. Crossley Cyclone defeated the St. Francis Phoenix 43-30 in an opening-round game at the BPSN Girls Basketball Tournament.
Piekny also contributed two rebounds, two assists and three steals, but the statistics are only part of the story.
Piekny has endured two serious knee injuries the past two years, both requiring surgery, and only began playing again this season after two years on the sidelines.
She couldn’t contain her excitement afterwards.
“It’s amazing — everyone keeps calling me Smiles because I really can’t stop smiling when I play,” she said. “We’ve played a few games so far and it’s been so great to be back.”
Piekny admits two years of rehab had more than its share of challenges.
“Oh, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” she said. “Finding —I don’t even know what to call it — the power to be determined enough to do the rehab every day to, show up every day, to want to come back.
“It took so much drive for me. And honestly, it was really just the love for basketball that kept me driving to come back because I knew I wanted to play for Crossley in my senior year. So every day when I woke up to rehab, this is what I’m working for.”
Piekny said she feels perfectly fine on the court.
“It’s a lot of muscle memory that’s coming back to me, and it’s great to play with like some really great players like Leah (Waselovich) and Addie (Falardeau), they’ve been so helpful. Obviously it was a little nerve wracking to get back into it but I feel like everything is coming back.”
Crossley coach Aaron Belding said Piekny is an inspiration.
“To be able to come back from a devastating injury like that, and then find the joy in athletics and still want to participate and come back is amazing,” he said. “She has that uplifting personality on the court. Hard work, teamwork, can’t say enough about her.”
Belding would like to see a more complete effort from his squad going forward.
“The effort in the first quarter was outstanding, and it’s that inconsistency that I talk about, but it just wasn’t consistent for the rest of the game,” he said. “We have to be able to commit with that intensity and maintain it for four quarters, no matter who I have on the floor, or which sub is on the floor. We gotta get everybody raised up to that intensity, so that way we put the pressure on the team for the 32 minutes.”
St. Francis coach Rachel Bufalino explained her team is in a rebuild.
“Last year we lost a lot of our good basketball players. This year, we only have a couple who have the experience, but we have a very athletic team,” she said. “The girls have stamina, everything of that sort, so it’s just kind of working on basketball knowledge, basketball skills of that sort.”
STATS PACK
Cyclone 43 Phoenix 30
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Crossley’s Claire Piekny with 14 points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals.
E.L. Crossley Cyclone: Claire Piekny 14; Addie Falardeau 9; Leah Waselovich 9; Amelia Siolkowsky 4; Katie Luciani 3; Lydia Jeffery 2.
St. Francis Phoenix: Kaylee Giesbrecht 19; Alicia Kryzanowski 6; Rozlyn Ciocca 3. Two points unaccounted for on scoresheet.
The tournament is made possible with the help of Women Networking in Sports of Niagara, Tora Inc., Ridley College, Alltech Automotive, St. Catharines CYO Basketball, Pelham Panthers basketball, Niagara Falls Red Raiders basketball, the Niagara District Referees Association, the District School Board of Niagara and the Niagara Catholic District School Board.
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