Wallace leads Phoenix into BPSN consolation final
Thursday’s first consolation semifinal in the Second Annual BPSN Girls Basketball Tournament at Governor Simcoe went down to the wire.
In the end, the Saint Francis Phoenix advanced to the consolation final with a 57-56 overtime victory over the Smithville Christian Storm.
Smithville almost won it at the end of regulation but Daniella Zondag’s three-pointer with 10.9 seconds left spun around the rim three times and then spun out. Then at the buzzer, Saint Francis’ Mikayla Wallace saw her shot bounce of the rim. The Phoenix were able to hang on to the win by playing keep away in the final 30 seconds of OT.
“It was too close for comfort,” Saint Francis head coach Karly Ruetz said. “I think the one thing that I really noticed about our team is even though we might not be the most refined at times, they are willing to hustle and put the work in and that makes me really proud as a coach. That really showed today.”
Ruetz had a lot of players on her team that can contribute minutes.
“We are lucky to have a bench where the girls are willing to come in and absolutely work their tails off for us.”
One of the key players for the Phoenix is Wallace, who scored a game-high 23 points in the win Thursday.
“Mikalya is a joy. We had her last year and we were able to become comfortable with each other as player and coach,” she said. “She is a dynamite player, a dynamite girl and we are so lucky to have her. She is willing to shoot or take the ball to the net. She is an all-arounder and a good leader.”
The 17-year-old St. Catharines resident has been playing basketball since Grade 3 and presently plays travel ball for the Niagara Rangers.
“Ever since Grade 3, I have loved the sport,” the Grade 12 student said. “I love the competitiveness.”
She is continuing to work hard on her game.
‘I have to work on my rebounding, try and shoot more and go to the rim.”
Wallace described the semifinal as really hard.
“We needed to work on our rebounding because they are so tall. We overcame that and gave it our all.”
She is thrilled to have a chance to play in the consolation final.
“It feels great. We are trying our best even if they are tall and we are a short team.”
Storm coach Tawnia Hultink didn’t like the final outcome but enjoyed the game.
“It was exciting and there were a lot of good learning experiences,” she said. “We have learned a lot this week. There is a lot of work to do but they are working hard and they got some good fitness this week. They realize they can play with other teams that are bigger (school population) than us.”
STATS PACK
Phoenix 57 Storm 56 (OT)
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Saint Francis’ Mikayla Wallace with 23 points.
For the Saint Francis Phoenix: Wallace 23; Kyla Pylypiw 11; Rozlyn Ciocca 6; Asia Artin 5; Riyana Chahoud 5; Emma Collini 3; Kori Zukowsky 2; Adriana Ahern.
For the Smithville Christian Storm: Ava Froese 21; Daniella Zondag 13; Kyra VanGeest 9; Laurel Graham 6; Sydney Vanhermynen 3; Morgan VanStoulduinen 2.
Up next: Saint Francis advances to the consolation final Friday at 5:30 p.m at Governor Simcoe.
The tournament is made possible with the help of primary sponsors, Women Networking in Sports of Niagara and Tora Inc., and secondary sponsors, Alltech Automotive, St. Catharines CYO Basketball, Pelham Panthers basketball, Niagara Falls Red Raiders basketball, Niagara Rangers basketball and the Niagara District Referees Association.
