Niagara Juel 1-2 in exhibition action
The Niagara JUEL girls basketball team went 1-2 in exhibition play this past weekend, defeating Halton 49-47 and falling 74-36 to the Hamilton Yellow Jackets and 50-47 in overtime to the Tri-County Soldiers.
“Overall a very positive and productive weekend. After only a full week of practice with all the players, I thought we did some really good things,” Niagara head coach Si Khounviseth said. “Lots of work to do and the coaches had an opportunity to see new players as we have seven new players to work in. We lack structure and systems which is expected given how new the team is to each other. The coaches also don’t know players as well.”
He is encouraged and excited about the upcoming season.
“We know the players will put in the work and with understanding our concepts and system, we will be much better prepared.”
Against Halton, Niagara outscored their opponents 18-6 in the final quarter to record the victory.
Leading the way for Niagara were: Reese Bolibruck with seven points and six rebounds; Shorleigh Burrows with seven points; Emma Vendittelli and Lita Sutor with six points each; and, Diana Kastenka with five points and six rebounds.
“We beat a team that was ranked in the top three last year. We were 0-4 against them last year with all four games being close,” Khounviseth said. “It was a good way to start our season out. We got down early and battled back and I thought we had an outstanding fourth with an awesome display of defence.”
Against the Yellow Jackets, Niagara faced quarter deficits of 23-13, 41-22 and 63-27.
Top performers for Niagara were: Sutor with six points; and, Burrows and Vendittelli with five points.
“We started the game off well but just really lost confidence and our lack of structure and style was highlighted against last year’s JUEL prep team, which went undefeated and is a team that has been together for quite a few years,” he said. “We will be better against them next time after we have more practices together and our players learn to play together and in a new system.”
In the game versus Tri-Country, Niagara saw quarter deficits of 10-8, 25-17 and 36-27 before forcing overtime by outscoring the Soldiers 17-8 in the final quarter.
Vendittelli topped Niagara with 10 points and five rebounds. Also contributing in the game were: Burrows with six points and six rebounds; Bolibruck with six points; and, Kiera Teske and Grace MacDonald with five points each.
“We started well but just could not buy a bucket. We had great looks but could not make lay-ups, free throws and open threes,” Khounviseth said. “We got down but battled back to tie it up and had a chance to win it but missed opportunities just simply cost us the game. We ended up losing in overtime and many missed opportunities cost us again.”
