Once a Marauder, always a Marauder
A.N. Myer Marauder basketball player Tori Rigas-DiDomenico has accepted a scholarship offer with the fifth-ranked McMaster Marauders women’s basketball team.
The rich just got richer.
The fifth-ranked McMaster Marauders women’s basketball program has landed A.N. Myer Marauders’ product Tori Rigas-DiDomenico, arguably the top graduating player in Niagara’s high school ranks.
“We are thrilled to welcome Tori to the program,” McMaster head coach Theresa Burns said, on the website of McMaster athletics. “She is a pure scorer who can get her shot off in very little room, who can shoot with great range, and who is able to finish creatively at the rim with either hand.”
Burns feels Rigas-DiDomenico will challenge immediately for some of the minutes that will open up next season due to graduation losses.
“This is a player that has outstanding court vision and can create scoring opportunities for her teammates as well,” Burns said. “I believe she is an intelligent player who will adapt to the university level very quickly and who will thrive at McMaster.”
The 17-year-old Niagara Falls resident also had interest from Brock, Waterloo and Ryerson in Canada and a couple of NCAA Division 1 schools, including Brown University in Rhode Island.
Her decision to stay in Canada was based on the education she would receive.
“I think it is comparable to any Ivy League school in the States and just the culture is different,” the 5-foot-5 guard said. “I found that I could get a quality education here and play at a high level. I decided that playing in the States wasn’t the right decision for me.”
She’s excited to work with the coaches at McMaster and play with her new teammates.
“The girls were super welcoming and I am really looking forward to it,” Rigas-DiDomenico said. “They are a very good team.”
Her goals are to work hard and earn her spot on the team.
“I am going to work as hard as I can to get some playing time.”
She believes she has already taken strides with her game this fall.
“I feel that I have become a better leader and I have tried to better everyone around me.”
Skill-wise, she has been focusing more on her pull-up game and shooting from outside.
“Usually, I’m a player who drives to the basket and I tried to change my game a bit and I’ve worked hard on my defence.”
To play at the next level, she feels she needs to increase her foot speed, becoming more explosive with her first step and continue to improve as a defender.
And like every high school basketball player, she will need to get physically stronger.
“It’s obviously going to be a change with workout plans and building muscle to be able to compete and fight with the girls on the court.”
Myer head coach Dave Shaw has seen his talented player take the next step this season.
“Tori’s scoring efficiency and her understanding of how to get her looks continued to improve to a point where she had games where she could just take over,” he said. “It comes down to her understanding of the game and her abilities to play to her strengths.”
Known for her scoring, Rigas-DiDomenico has become more of a complete player.
“She is a team leader and we asked her to be our general on the floor and she was able to do that.” Shaw said. “On the defensive end, she has active hands, she understands long shots and long rebounds and was able to put herself in good position for that and again, she was someone who corralled the troops and got them ready to go for the games.”
The 2018 winner of the Harold Biggar Memorial Award, presented annually to the top female high school basketball player in Niagara Falls, is planning to study English and cultural studies at Mac and hopes to one day teach at the university level.
Rigas-DiDomenico, who has played senior ball at Myer since Grade 10, has suited up in travel ball with the Niagara Selects, coached by her father, Ezio DiDomenico, and with the Full Court Hoops AAU program out of Buffalo, N.Y. This winter, she will be a member of the Niagara JUEL team
Her father has been an important part of her basketball career.
“He has been my role model ever since I have been little” she said. “He has always pushed me and told me my size doesn’t matter. It’s how big I played and not how tall I was.”
Full Court Hoops coach Cara Gustafson, who Rigas-DiDomencio has been coached by since Grade 9, has also been important.
“She was a female role model for me,” she said. “She played Division 1 at St. Bonaventure and she was a great mentor to have all the way through high school. She always pushed me in practice to be the best version of myself as a person and as a player.”
Rigas-DiDomenico concluded her high school career by scoring 40 points in a win over Welland Notre Dame in the Zone 3 AAA final and a further 33 in a 73-60 loss to Hamilton Westdale in the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association semifinals. Westdale would go on to win gold at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations AAA championship.
Older sister Nicole played at Ryerson University while her brother Thomas is on the roster of the Brock men’s team.
