Marauders sink the Lynx
Jenna Saddler set the tone for herself and the A.N. Myer Marauders early on Tuesday.
The 17-year-old, Grade 12 student poured in 17 points in the first quarter as the Marauders cruised to a 68-5 win over the Saint-Jean-de-Brébeuf Lynx in an opening round game at the BPSN Girls Basketball Tournament played before a packed house at Myer.
Saddler, who plays at the travel level for the St. Catharines Rebels, said the quick start was by design.
“I want intensity,” she said. “I need to get my adrenaline going so that’s one way to do that, for sure.”
Myer coach Katie Harpur said Saddler is the Marauders Swiss Army knife, capable of playing multiple positions and roles.
“Jenna does everything,” Harpur said. “She’s the kind of person you ask to go here and she goes there. She plays different positions for us, she’ll play the short-corner shooter, play up top, bring up the ball. She just does everything for us.
“Just ask Jen to do it and she does it.”
Saddler’s outburst helped the Marauders race out to a 28-0 lead after one period and a 36-1 margin at the half.
With the outcome quickly not an issue, the Marauders switched gears.
“Our strategy changed. We wanted to get more passes and shots off and try and move the ball and have everybody touch it,” Saddler said.
Harpur indicated the game was a perfect opportunity to get in some much-needed reps.
“This time of the season we don’t have many practices so just running through our stuff, working though our offence. It’s a time when we have all of our players there so just using that to execute what we need to,” she said. “This week we have no practice, next week no practice with tournaments and the girls season unfortunately is short so (it’s about) getting out there and executing what we need to.”
Harpur liked how her squad managed the lead.
“We came together as a team, we looked to create for others, and our drive and kick game, I was really impressed with that,” she said. “We still need to clean up our defence and making sure the give and go is not there.”
The Marauders were Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association finalists last season and return nine players from that squad including Saddler, Mya Pierini, Carly Casciano, Maia Walker, Emma Vendittelli and Sophia Kotsanis.
Saddler is looking forward to the rest of the tournament.
“I hope we do pretty well. We’ll play some good teams and I think we’ll do all right.”
STATS PACK
Marauders 68 Lynx 5
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Myer’s Jenna Saddler with 21 points.
A.N. Myer Marauders: Saddler 21; Sophia Kotsanis 7; Madison Douma 7; Elizabeth Cook 6; Carly Casciano 6; Emma Vendittelli 6; Cheyenne Lee 3; Mya Pierini 2; Ava Walker 2; Mariska Colcuc 2; Maia Walker 2; Maya Dueck 2; Amelia Tiffney 2.
Saint-Jean-de-Brébeuf Lynx: Bethanie Irwin 2; Kassidee Fontaine 2; Harmony Stifter-Schaeffer 1.
The tournament is made possible with the help of Women Networking in Sports of Niagara, Tora Inc., Regional Doors and Hardware, Bromac Construction Inc., the Brock women’s basketball program, Alltech Automotive, St. Catharines CYO Basketball, Pelham Panthers basketball, Niagara Falls Red Raiders basketball, Niagara Rangers basketball, Lasting Images, the Niagara District Referees Association, the District School Board of Niagara and the Niagara Catholic District School Board.
