Good weekend for Niagara Juel teams
The Niagara Juel girls basketball team went 2-2 in league play this past weekend in Kingston.
Niagara (7-9) defeated the Durham City Chameleons 91-17, lost 58-56 to the St. Lawrence Lightning, beat the GTA Lady Blues 74-62 and fell 53-48 to the Ottawa Capitals.
“We had a league weekend that was very successful. We did not get our goal of going 4-0 but overall very positive. We had a fourth make-up game that was added and four games was tough,” Niagara head coach Si Khounviseth said. “Overall, we are very pleased with where we are at and will look to continue this growth and development.”
Against Durham City, Niagara built quarter leads of 28-0, 47-9 and 68-13 on the way to victory.
“We just played our game and really started to understand what good teams need to do,” he said.
Top performers for Niagara were: Kate DeVries (Eden) with 15 points; Diana Kastenka (Bishop Ryan) with 12 points and five rebounds; Shorleigh Burrows (Eden) with 12 points; Reese Bolibruck (West Niagara) and Grace MacDonald (St. John Henry Newman) with 11 points; and, Shania Hintenberger (Lakeshore Catholic) with 10 points.
In the loss to the St. Lawrence Lightning, Niagara led 46-37 in the third quarter but couldn’t hang on.
“Game 2 was really tough as we really controlled play for most of the game and just had a very poor fourth quarter. Part of it is us learning how to win,” Khounviseth said.
Leading the way for Niagara were: Bolibruck with 19 points and six rebounds; Alena Tepsic (Saltfleet) with 10 points; Lita Sutor (Blessed Trinity) and Keira Teske (Governor Simcoe) with seven points; and DeVries with six points.
Versus the GTA Lady Blues, Niagara built quarter leads of 17-12, 37-24 and 49-42.
“Game 3 was a great response after losing the night before. We beat a really good team in the GTA. We defended and shot the ball well for the first time in a long time. We believe if we can get consistent shooting and finishing at the rim we can beat any team in the league as we are now really learning how to defend as a team. We need to finish our defence out with rebounds,” he said.
Topping the stat sheet for Niagara were: Emma Vendittelli (A.N. Myer) with 13 points and six rebounds; MacDonald with 12 points; DeVries and Bolibruck with 11 points; and, Tepsic with 10 points.
In the loss to Ottawa, Niagara led 16-7 after one quarter but trailed 29-25 at the half and 37-34 after three quarters.
“Game 4 was the same as Game 2. We controlled play and just had the one bad quarter. This time it was in the second quarter. We did not finish off plays both on the offensive and defensive end,” Khounviseth said.
Leading the way for Niagara were: Bolibruck with 12 points; Sutor with eight points; and, DeVries with six points.
JUEL PREP
The Niagara Juel Prep squad pushed its record to 14-2 with three straight wins last weekend in Kingston
Niagara defeated the Brampton Warriors 82-29, the St. Lawrence Lightning 48-37 and the GTA Lady Blues 99-41.
“We had a really great weekend. The team is starting to play much more aggressive defence and we were able to move the ball around which allowed for great scoring opportunities,” Niagara head coach Chris Moscato said. “Many of the girls were able to be productive on the offensive end of the game. Our focus will be to continue to be aggressive on defence to create turnovers and lead to more offensive opportunities.”
Niagara built quarter leads of 16-9, 36-17 and 62-25 to knock off Brampton.
Leading the way were: Lyla Rodrique (Centennial) with 17 points; Brooklyn Turner (Blessed Trinity) with 13 points and five boards; Camilla Moscato (Notre Dame) with 11 points; and, Ava Walker (A.N. Myer) and Kate Ferras (Assumption College) with seven points.
Versus St. Lawrence, Niagara built quarter leads of 17-6, 25-13 and 40-20.
Top performers for Niagara were: Moscato with 12 points and five boards; Rodrique with eight points and six rebounds; Walker with seven points; and, Ferras with six points and six rebounds.
In the win over the GTA Lady Blues, Niagara rolled to quarter leads of 31-9, 52-16 and 74-27.
Topping the stat sheet for Niagara were: Moscato with 21 points; Turner with 18 points; Walker with 15 points; Teagan Fraser with 11 points; Talia Hultink (Smithville Christian) with 10 points and five boards; Jaylen Stienstra (Blessed Trinity) with nine points and five rebounds; and, Addison Torigian (Sir Winston Churchill) with eight points.
JUEL ACADEMY
The Pelham Panthers Juel Academy squad went unbeaten this past weekend in Mississauga by defeating the Thornhill Thunder 60-38 and Halton Region 60-33.
With the wins, the first-place Panthers pushed their record to 12-1.
“Our team is continuing to do a fantastic job solving challenges, answering questions about our game and filling gaps that presented themselves early in the season,” Pelham head coach Charles Kissi said. “We’re really thrilled with the progress and development of our athletes. We’re shooting the ball better and passing the ball better. Fundamentally we’re getting more sound every day.”
Against Thornhill, Niagara trailed 13-7 after one quarter but rebounded to built second- and third-quarter leads of 28-22 and 44-26.
Leading the way for Niagara were: Makayla Scott-Bush with 23 points and 16 boards; Gabrielle Kissi with 10 points; Evie Haine with nine points; Giuliana DiMarcantonio with six points; and, Tessa Bailey with five points.
Against Halton, Niagara had quarter advantages of 21-6, 32-12 and 39-24.
Top performers for Niagara were: Scott-Bush with 26 points and 11 boards; Grace Redmond with 13 points; Olivia Knack with seven points; and, Isabella Deliyannis with five points.
