Smyth and Churchill still top dogs
Kate Smyth stepped from the background into the spotlight Friday night and led the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs to a 40-32 victory over the A.N. Myer Marauders in the championship game of the Third Annual BPSN Girls Basketball Tournament at Governor Simcoe.
The Grade 12 point guard was a key cog in Churchill’s team last season that won an Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations AA gold medal and their second straight BPSN title. But with four starters from that squad lost to graduation, the 17-year-old needed to step up and score more.
Smyth did just that in the BPSN tourney netting 21 in a semifinal win over Blessed Trinity and then added 17 in the championship game. She ended up averaging 14.3 points per game in the tourney.
She was all smiles after the game while holding the MVP trophy.
“It’s a great feeling. I know last year Brooke (Keltos) got it and I was always ‘I want to get that.’ I wanted to have that feeling of being the best in the tournament. It is an amazing feeling to win MVP.”
Smyth played almost the entire tournament with an injury she suffered in opening-round action against Thorold.
“I was dribbling the ball and I just kind of tripped over my own feet. I went to the hospital and they told me it was just a sprain which was good,” she said. “The doctor said I was out for four weeks but then I woke up and I was fine. I wanted to play so I just taped it, put some Biofreeze on it and it has been good.”
As good as Smith is as a basketball player, she is more focused on soccer. This past summer, she scored a goal for the League1 Roma Wolves squad and had visited a number of schools interested in signing her to a scholarship.
“I know talking to my old coach he definitely thought I could have taken that path as well,” she said. “Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if I stuck with basketball but I think soccer is best for me.”
Churchill head coach Frank Keltos is running out of superlatives to use for Smyth.
“Sometimes she doubts herself but she is a star and she just has to realize that every time she has the ball. She has more than a 50 per cent chance of always winning the battle.”
Smyth also exudes poise after playing in so many big games already.
“Last year was huge for her. She said a couple days ago that last year she was helping just run the show and be a part of it and this year she is the big part of it,” Keltos said. “That experience was massive for her.”
Equally as exciting as winning the MVP trophy for Smyth was proving the doubters wrong who questioned the Bulldogs’ top seeding.
“I was confident going in but I know our confidence level from last year has sunk a little bit because all of our starters left and we were playing with all new girls,” she said. “We are not used to playing with each other yet and I know a lot of teams went in wanting to beat us and having the confidence to beat us. They thought all our starters were gone and we couldn’t be as good but we came out a lot stronger than they thought which probably gave us a little bit of an advantage.”
Knowing teams thought they could topple the Bulldogs gave Smyth and her teammates added motivation.
“We had to come and play stronger than they thought we could and we weren’t going to sink down to their level. We were going to be above their level.”
Keltos also took pleasure in proving the Bulldogs are still a top squad in Niagara.
“I told the girls that we were the hunted. Everyone is hunting us to beat us and knock us off. I told them before the game to just go prove the doubters wrong, that the seeding was right and that we are a pretty good ball team and we did,” he said. “We scored early, got a lead and we held on at the end. We got a little mentally tired and made some mistakes.”
Morgan Barker came up huge for the Bulldogs scoring her team’s first eight points of the game to get her team started.
“That was big because we weren’t getting a lot of secondary scoring,” Keltos said. “I am very happy that we got contributions from her and some of the others.”
Myer coach Kate Harpur lamented her team’s slow start.
“That was huge. I’m proud of our girls and their fight to keep fighting. A couple of those bunnies that fell out, totally different ball game. Going into the half down 13 or 14, it was hard to come back but I’m super proud,” she said. “We have things we need to work on, but I’m proud of our fight.”
The BPSN tourney is the first step in what Harpur hopes will be a long run this season.
“This is huge. This is preparing us for our goal, which is to get through SOSSA (Southern Ontario Secondary School Associations) and then to OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations). We missed out, we lost in the SOSSA finals last year with a good number of these girls so our goal this year is to win SOSSA and get to OFSAA.”
Also named to the tournament all-star team were: Anya Namestnik and Mya Pupek from Churchill; Mya Pierini and Carly Casciano from Myer; and, Sofia Sestili from the consolation champion Denis Morris Reds.
Namestnik averaged 12.3 points a game in the tournament and scored seven in the championship game. Pupek averaged only two points a game in the tournament but used her volleyball hops and size to dominate the rebounding stats. Pierini averaged less than two points a game but was the glue that held the Marauders together. Carly Casciano averaged 7.5 points a game, including five in the final. Sestili averaged 15.8 points a game, including 16 in the consolation final.
STATS PACK
Bulldogs 40 Marauders 32
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Churchill’s Kate Smyth with 17 points.
For the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs: Smyth 17; Morgan Barker 8; Anya Namestnik 7; Sydney Jones 3; Ayla Namestnik 2; Mya Pupek 2. One point unaccounted for on game sheet.
For the A.N. Myer Marauders: Maia Walker 9; Emma Vendittelli 8; Carly Casciano 5; Ava Walker 3; Jenna Saddler 2; Sophia Kotsanis 1. Four points unaccounted for on game sheet.
The tournament is made possible with the help of Women Networking in Sports of Niagara, Tora Inc., Regional Doors and Hardware, Bromac Construction Inc., the Brock women’s basketball program, Alltech Automotive, St. Catharines CYO Basketball, Pelham Panthers basketball, Niagara Falls Red Raiders basketball, Niagara Rangers basketball, Lasting Images, the Niagara District Referees Association, the District School Board of Niagara and the Niagara Catholic District School Board.
