Phoenix and Golden Eagles fly into consolation final
The remaining teams in the Fourth Annual BPSN Girls Basketball Tournament will be hard-pressed to match the drama of Thursday’s consolation semifinal game at Ridley College between the Thorold Golden Eagles and the Denis Morris Reds.
Thorold shot lights out to open the game and led 20-11 after one quarter and 27-15 at the half. The Reds never quit and cut the lead to 31-30 after three quarters, thanks to Sofia Sestili going 2-3 from the free-throw line with no time left on the clock.
Denis Morris kept fighting and grabbed a 40-38 lead with 1:05 left in the game. Sestili fouled out with one minute left in the game and Kaydence Hales tied the game at 40-40 with 50.3 seconds left on the clock.
Hales blocked a shot late in the game and Thorold took the ball over with 6.4 seconds remaining. Hales drove the length of the floor and was fouled with 0.6 seconds left on the clock. She stepped up to the free-throw line and made the first shot to give her team a 41-40 victory.
Thorold head coach Andrew Thompson knew it was Hales he wanted to have the ball with the game on the line.
‘It’s gotta go to Kaydence and honestly, she shares the ball with those girls. She is an awesome teammate and she is fantastic. I can’t say enough good things about her.”
Thompson agreed his team’s hot first quarter was key to winning the game.
“It was a fantastic start and it was awesome for us to get out to a lead like that. I told the girls to be patient because they were going to get on a run and come back and we had to weather the storm.”
Thorold seemed to run out of gas at the end of the game which caused some sloppy turnovers and allowed DM to claw its way back into the game.
“It was a little bit of fatigue because we are not super deep,” he said.
The win avenged Thorold’s loss to Denis Morris in last year’s BPSN consolation final.
“It feels nice and they are good guys and run a good program over there. It was a fun win for us,” Thompson said. “We are going to try and get over the hump tomorrow. The goal was always Friday night and we are happy to be there.”
Denis Morris head coach Sean Perdue lamented his team’s slow start.
“I am so proud of the girls for the effort they showed coming back. We are a very young team but we can’t give up a 20-point first quarter like we did,” he said. “I am happy with the last three quarters and we held them to 21 points over the final three quarters. That is the type of defence we are used to playing.”
STATS PACK
Golden Eagles 41 Reds 40
Cats’ Caboose Player of the Game: Thorold’s Kaydence Hales with 18 points, including a game-winning free throw with 0.6 seconds left on the clock.
For the Thorold Golden Eagles: Kaydence Hales 18; Keaira Austin 10; Marissa Hall 5; Kyla Gallant 4; Charlee Rowland 2; Sarah Robichaud 2.
For the Denis Morris Reds: Sofia Sestili 22; Tessa Pingue 7; Jamie Kamendy 6; Hailey Davidson 3; Nevaeh Jones 2.
Up next: Thorold and Saint Francis play in the consolation final Friday at 6 p.m. at St. Catharines Collegiate.
Phoenix 41 Redcoats 33
The Saint Francis Phoenix jumped out to an early lead en route to a 41-33 victory over the Governor Simcoe Redcoats in the other consolation round semifinal.
The Phoenix led 16-5 after one quarter and 25-15 at the half.
“We had a big first quarter, we hit a lot of threes, so that was a good start to it, but honestly the girls did a really good job working together and everything,” Phoenix coach Rachel Bufalino said. “It (big lead) gives us a nice safety blanket. The girls came into the game a little bit more stressed, a little bit more anxious about it, so having that big lead that first quarter really gave them a little bit more comfort and we kind of got to just play the game and not stress.
“We’ve been working together really well as a team. I’m super proud of the girls.”
Bufalino said the Phoenix seem to be rounding into form.
“Honestly, this is pretty big for us,” she said. “It’s been kind of a rough start for our season, so this is honestly going to be a huge confidence boost for our girls.
“It’s just kind of nice to see things starting to go away.”
Simcoe coach John Ingribelli lamented his team’s poor start.
“We didn’t adjust on their shooters, which I’ve been preaching since the beginning of the season, recognize who the shooters are, but I’m very proud of the girls how they battled back and hung in. We’re short staffed and a lot of the girls were in positions that they didn’t play before. We’re missing some key players but we will be full strength by next week.”
Rozlyn Ciocca had 15 and Riyanna Chahoud 10 for Saint Francis.
Kiera Teske 28 poured in 28 for the Redcoats.
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Simcoe’s Kiera Teske with 28 points.
For Saint Francis Phoenix: Rozlyn Ciocca 15; Riyanna Chahoud 10; Alicia Kryzanowski 7; Kaylee Giesbrecht 5; Kylie Ryall 4.
For the Governor Simcoe Redcoats: Kiera Teske 28; Josie Joyce 3; Bella Johnson 2.
With files from Bill Potrecz
The tournament is made possible with the help of Women Networking in Sports of Niagara, Tora Inc., Ridley College, Alltech Automotive, St. Catharines CYO Basketball, Pelham Panthers basketball, Niagara Falls Red Raiders basketball, the Niagara District Referees Association, the District School Board of Niagara and the Niagara Catholic District School Board.
