Bulldogs rally past Thunder
Olivia Krieger’s timing was impeccable Thursday.
The 16-year-old, Grade 11 student only hit three baskets for the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs, but two of them came at the most crucial point in the game.
Krieger canned a pair of three-point shots early in the fourth quarter to rally the Bulldogs past the Blessed Trinity Thunder 49-37 in a semifinal game at the 19th Annual Standard Girls High School Basketball Tournament.
The Bulldogs now face the top-seeded Eden Flyers Friday at 7:30 p.m. for the championship.
Sir Winston trailed the Thunder 40-35 heading into the final quarter but Krieger’s two early buckets helped turn things around quickly for the Bulldogs who built a 45-35 lead by the halfway point of the quarter.
“It was so much fun. I love games like that,” Krieger said. “It (felt) amazing.”
Krieger said her role is to score.
“I’m a shooter,” she said. “It’s a lot of confidence. It took me a while to bring up my confidence over the years, but I think I finally got it now.”
Sir Winston coach Frank Keltos said Krieger did what she does best — shoot.
“She shoots the three pure,” he said. “We try to hit her. We have plays we run just to try and get her open. All the kicks go to her.”
Krieger said Keltos rallied the troops with a good pep talk which helped turn things around.
“We just bought it,” she said.
Keltos said the gist of his chat was that the Bulldogs needed to trust each other.
“We had opportunities and to hit for layups and that’s our game,” he said. “We have to trust each other when we play offence and we have to trust each other when we play defence.
“We’ve built a huge trust in each other and then we saw a few shots drop but it was because we trusted each other.”
Keltos is thrilled to have a chance to see his charges compete for a title.
“Tomorrow night is gravy. Playing on a Friday night at The Standard Tournament is where you want to be. We’re very happy with where we are.”
Stats Pack
Johnny Rocco’s/Mick and Angelo’s Player of the Game: Olivia Krieger with two key three-pointers in the fourth quarter.
For the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs: Krieger 8; Kayley DeMont 14; Ally Sentance 10; Ashley Harris 9; Reagan Emonds 6; Kennedy Millin 2.
For the Blessed Trinity Thunder: Madison O’Brien 8; Makayla Giddings 7; Mia DiPasquale 6; Katrina Shields 5; Lexia Poitras 4; Olivia Ionnatta 4; Ella Muraca 2.
CONSOLATION ROUND
Reds 44 Lynx 34
Jordyn Britton netted 22 points as the Denis Morris Red advanced to the consolation final with a victory over the Jean Vanier Lynx.
“I’m very proud of my team,” DM coach Stephanie DiMizio said. “We had eight girls and we went with mostly five for most of the game and we played very good defence. Our job was to stop No. 15 (Corrynn Parker) and if we could stop her we had a chance.”
The Reds now take on Friday for the consolation title.
“We’re very excited,” DiMizio aded. “We’re made up of Grade 11 so it’s nice to see we can make it this far with a young team.”
Also scoring for the Reds were: Cayla Mirabella 8; Rayshell Nyaekye 8; Lexxus Bell 6.
Scoring for the Lynx were: Corryn Parker 17; Isabelle Sinclair 9; Heather Buller 8.
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