Keltos leads Badgers past Ridgebacks
Brookelyn Keltos was greeted in the Brock women’s basketball team’s dressing room Saturday night with a shower of water.
“That was a great feeling,” the 18-year-old St. Catharines native said.
The rookie guard had just scored 16 points to lead the Badgers to a dominating 87-35 victory over the visiting Ontario Tech Ridgebacks. The game came on the heels of last Friday’s 77-37 home victory over Algoma where she scored the first 15 points of her university career.
“It feels amazing especially playing at home. The crowd is just amazing at home and I have lots of friends and family here. All my friends from home came to watch this weekend and it feels great to do it at home.”
The confidence gained from her last two home games should pay dividends moving forward.
“Now my team and my coach have confidence in me that I can shoot the ball as they have seen in the last two games.”
Keltos has never doubted her abilities.
“It feels good to prove it.”
She has enjoyed her first season of university ball.
“It has been a big change from high school definitely,” the Sir Winston Churchill alumna said. “The team is amazing and fun to be on. I know there are things I need to work on and improve and I am just trying to find my role on the team.”
The 5-foot-10 player is in a much different role compared to her last few years with Churchill and the Niagara JUEL squad where she played major minutes. Her teammates have helped her get through games where she doesn’t see the floor.
“Everyone is so supportive and it doesn’t matter who has the good game. Everyone is always positive and encouraging and no one is selfish on this team. We all just want to work for each other and a win is a win. It is a team win.”
Brock head coach Mike Rao likes what he is seeing from Keltos.
“She shoots the ball really well and I think that she is going to be a really good OUA player,” he said. “It is her first year and she has a lot of promising years ahead.”
Rao likes the steps she has taken this year.
“She has gotten stronger and her foot speed is getting there. As soon as all of that comes together, she is going to be fantastic.”
Keltos agrees with that assessment.
“Coming in, I didn’t do much offseason training and Taylor (Tiessen) and the BSP (Brock Sports Performance) have definitely helped. I have gotten stronger, I know what I need to work on and I am trying to work on it at practice.”
She knows what she needs to do to take the next step as a university player.
“Coach Rao has told me to get my ballhandling better, get quicker and faster and get more aggressive around the net. And I have to keep working on my defence for next season.”
Brock trailed Ontario Tech 9-6 early in the game but went on an 18-0 run to end the quarter as part of a 36-2 run that put the game out of reach. It allowed Rao to give his bench big minutes.
“It was good. Everybody got to play and everyone (all 12 players) scored. It was a pretty good run and I am happy with the result.”
BADGERS 85 LIONS 75
On the road against York (2-12) Friday, the Badgers ran their winning streak to five games by building quarter leads of 26-16, 50-36 and 76-55 and cruising home.
“It was a tough game. It is always tough to play at York but for the first thee quarters we played really well,” Rao said. “Then in the fourth quarter I kind slowed down the game and we lost the quarter but a lot of it was my issue. I changed the way we were playing a bit because I wanted to secure a win.”
Top performers for Brock in the win were: Madalyn Weinert with 25 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and four steals; Tito Akinnusi with 20 points; Angeline Campbell with 16 points and five assists; Olivia Fiorucci with 10 points; Noor Bazzi with seven points and five assists; and, Allison Addy with five points.
Top scorers for York were Kiara Leveridge with 28 points and Bilan Khadar with 19.
STATS PACK
Badgers 87 Ridgebacks 35
BPSN Player of the Game: Brock’s Brookelyn Keltos with 16 points on 5-8 shooting, including 4-7 from beyond the arc.
For the Brock Badgers: Keltos 16; Madalyn Weinert with 15 points and 12 rebounds; Allison Addy 11; Tito Akinnusi 10.
For the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks: Felicity Villarin 13; Elliot Cowan 10.
Game stats: Shooting percentage: Brock 49.3, UOIT 20.8. Free throws: Brock 11-15, UOIT 1015. Rebounds: Brock 47, UOIT 24. Turnovers: Brock 11, UOIT 16.
Up next: Brock (11-4) is at Lakehead next Friday and Saturday.
