Gators top Raiders

Bridget Peazel was all over the court Tuesday afternoon helping the Lakeshore Catholic Gators senior girls basketball team record a 42-36 victory over the visiting Holy Cross Raiders in Niagara Catholic Athletic Association action.

The Grade 11 point guard handled the ball the entire game and was also at the top of a full-court press that the Gators deployed the entire game.

“I like that she communicates with the rest of the girls, she leads by example and she is all over the floor. Like I said, these girls are scrappy and they will fight for loose balls and 50-50s,” Lakeshore head coach Shyian McFarland said. “We wouldn’t be the team we are if Bridget didn’t play the way she does.”

The 15-year-old never looked tired in the game.

“I have had good endurance my entire life. I do track and cross country and I like running,” said the travel player with the Pelham Panthers under-17 squad. “I get tired eventually but the game pushes me to keep going.”

Peazel scored 20 points in the game and many of her points came on uncontested layups, thanks to her teammates finding her on the break.

“They are really good at that if I am running down.”

She knows there is one area of her game that she needs to get better at.

“It’s probably my outside shooting, I am not going to lie. I am not great but I am working on it.”

Like many of her teammates, Peazel was on the Lakeshore junior team that won the NCAA title last season but got no further.

“We did not do great at SOSSA (Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association). We played our best but we were against Sir Winston Churchill.”

She has high hopes for the team this season.

“We have good chemistry and we are all friends with each other. When we practise, we really click, we always ask questions and we are not afraid to communicate with each other through disagreements.”

McFarland likes his roster which improved to 3-2 with the win.

“They are a scrappy bunch, they work together and there is a good chemistry between the girls. The girls won zone at junior last year and we are just trying to keep the momentum going for the seniors. We have a really good group of girls and it is just trying to unlock that potential because at first they were a little bit shy and a little bit nervous. As practices and games have gone on, we have built that confidence and every game they keep getting better and better.”

The team puts a major focus on fitness.

“I instilled the understanding in them that if they want to be top team we have to be a team that can perform at a high level and conditioning is extremely important,” he said. “They need to be able to get up and down and if the game is close the girls may have to run the whole game. They understand that and they relish the opportunity to come to practice every day and work on their conditioning.”

The Raiders (2-3) stayed close all game but couldn’t get over the hump.

They trailed by nine in the second quarter and cut the lead to five at the half. They fell behind 12 in the third quarter and whittled the margin to seven going into the final quarter. And they trailed by 10 with 3:05 left in the game only to run out of time down by six.

“I thought the girls did well. There was a lot of effort out there, we made some really good decisions and when we did we were successful. We had open looks and things went our way but we just need to do it a little more consistently,” Holy Cross head coach Erin Gauthier said. “The girls battled back every quarter and I congratulate them on their efforts today.”

Gauthier was surprised that Lakeshore pressed the entire game.

“They did a really good job at pressing and we need to keep working on that.”

Gauthier likes where her team is at as the regular season winds down.

“The fitness and knowledge is coming for what I am asking them to do. Heading into the playoffs, we have a couple of tough games coming up and we are going to keep battling and keep getting better.”

STATS PACK

Gators 42 Raiders 36

Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Bridget Peazel with 20 points and a strong game at point guard.

For the Lakeshore Catholic Gators: Peazel 20; Reagan Cassan 10; Bianca Luckasavitch 3; Ava Thornton 3; Addison Thornton 2; Piper McSween 2; Marley Pyke 2.

For the Holy Cross Raiders: Lara Claire Martires 17; Mairead Newhouse 15; Tess Vahrmeyer 4.