Niagara Juel takes fifth
Ice cold shooting from beyond the arc prevented the Niagara Juel girls basketball team from competing for a medal this weekend in Niagara in the league’s year-end tournament.
After beating Ottawa Elite 60-59 and Kingston Impact 75-44 to advance to the quarter-finals, Niagara fell 59-52 to Windsor St Clair, who ended up winning the bronze medal.
“We came up short because our identity is shooting threes and we went 0-27 from the three-point line,” Niagara head coach Frank Keltos said. “We still scored 52 points which tells you we still could score. We just needed to hit some threes.”
Niagara rebounded by overcoming a 20-point deficit to defeat the Tri-County Soldiers 71-62 in the fifth-place game.
“Our plan was to play Sunday, going for a bronze medal, gold medal or just playing. We wanted to get four games and compete and we competed very well this weekend,” he said. “I was very proud of the girls.”
Niagara finished in seventh place during the regular season with a 10-10 record.
“By the end of the year, the girls knew exactly what their role was on the team and where they were to use their talents. We became a really bonded team and we had a lot of trust in each other,” Keltos said. “Everyone knew what each other was capable of and we excelled at the end of the year in everyone’s talents and what they offered. Everyone did their thing and we preached not to do stuff you don’t do. It was a great finish.”
Niagara had a number of award winners and nominees that were announced at the year end banquet. Winners included: Brookelyn Keltos who won the Fred Dunbar Award for excelling in the classroom and the community; Yemi Oladipo was named a second team all-star and a Molten All Academic Team member; Annika Rigby and Kaitlyn Brophy were chosen for the Molten All Academic Team; and, Lucy Whaling, Anna Deliyannis and Joanna Smith were nominated for the Mackenzie Curran Inspiration Award for their actions in the face of adversity and being able to inspire their teammates and/or community to achieve more than they thought possible.
Whaling tore her ACL twice, Smith has Type 1 diabetes and Deliyannis dealt with challenges immigrating to Canada.
The Juel League is all about preparing players to compete at the next level and it was mission accomplished for Niagara. Keltos and Jamie Addy are heading to Brock, Oladipo has signed with Waterloo, Smith is heading to Fanshawe College, Whaling is planning to try her luck as a walk-on at Carleton and Brophy is off to Laurier.
Against Ottawa, Niagara trailed 11-8 and 31-22, and 40-39 before scratching out the win in the final quarter. Leading the way for Niagara were: Keltos (Sir Winston Churchill) with 14 points and five boards; Smith (Holy Trinity Simcoe) with 12 points and four rebounds; Ava Stranges (Saint Paul) with 12 points; and, Addy (Governor Simcoe), with eight points and five rebounds
In the win over the Kingston Impact, Niagara build quarter leads of 32-12, 48-21 and 61-37. Top performers for Niagara were: Keltos with 25 points, on 7-10 shooting from three-point land, and six rebounds; Addy with 13 points and nine rebounds and five assists; Smith with 11 points and five rebounds; and, Oladipo (Sir Winston Churchill) with 13 points.
Against Windsor St. Clair, Niagara trailed 11-9, 33-23 and 45-38 after each of the first three quarters. Playing well for Niagara were: Oladipo with 18 points and 10 rebounds; Stranges with 12 points and eight rebounds; and, Keltos 10 points
Leading the way for Niagara against Tri-County were: Addy with 24 points and eight rebounds; Keltos with 20 points and six rebounds; Oladipo with 11 points; and, Stranges with eight points and five rebounds.
