Cyclone blow away Cougars
The E.L. Crossley Cyclone took no chances Wednesday in their Niagara Regional High School Athletic Association Zone 3 senior girls basketball final versus the Centennial Cougars.
The Cyclone pressed early and hard, building an early 22-0 lead en route to a 59-25 victory and a berth at the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association AA championships next week at St. Francis.
“The girls are still learning how to do it (press) so I needed to have a game situation where they could put it on so they could work on positioning and being able to run it properly,” Crossley coach Aaron Belding said.
“They are progressing. There’s still a long way to go, we picked up a lot of fouls on it, but definitely we want to enhance that going forward. It did the trick. It got the girls going, got the energy up and that’s what I’m looking to have, that intensity.”
Crossley’s Leah Waselovich explained how challenging it can be to run a press properly.
“You need to get there before the player does and so you don’t get blocked and know where you’re going and try and anticipate the best you can. You can’t let them turn at all. You have to be on them all the time.
“If you really need to win, you have to do it.”
Waselovich said there are drawbacks if the press is not properly executed.
“It you get the press on right away and the other team keeps beating it, then that’s bad because you have to sprint back and that gets really tiring going back and fourth,” she said.
Waselovich admitted getting out to such a strong start took the pressure off in a do-or-die game.
“It’s way better because when you start out you have the most energy but if it’s close game then you’re tired and working the whole time,” she said.
The Cyclone appear to be peaking at the right time after a rough start to the season at the BPSN Tournament last month.
“Being able to play the tournament and then get into league play and practices can gel the girls together,” Belding said. “We’re still working on communication. Who knew 15 and 16-year-old girls don’t want to talk to each other? You would not think. But just being able to work together for a common goal and being able to get everybody to buy into it. Everyone played so it’s just trying to get them to step up their game.”
Waselovich likes the team-first atmosphere on the Cyclone.
“I feel our team is a great team. Nobody does it individually,” she said. “I think we’ve played together now and we’re learning how each other play and the coaches are also really great, they make it so much better.”
Centennial coach Craig Maltais said the message to his club after digging themselves such a big hole was to ignore the scoreboard.
“At that point, it’s just play the game of basketball,” he said. “We have a team that really likes to play and we enjoy it. We’ve been up in some games, been in some tight games and there’s been games like this where there’s some really strong teams in the region and we’ve been down big, but the girls always have smiles on their faces which is great.”
STATS PACK
Cyclone 59 Cougars 25
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: E.L. Crossley guard Addison Falardeau with 20 points.
E.L. Crossley Cyclone: Falardeau 20; L’Jayah Simmonds 11; Amelia Siolkowsky 10; Katie Luciani 9.
Centennial Cougars: Danica Colquhoun 6; Caitlyn Wade 5; Easton Fournier 3.
Up next: The Cyclone advance to the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association playoffs Nov. 16 at Holy Cross.
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