Brantnews.com: Trojans Prepare for Tough Game

Article By:  Tom Kennedy

Retrieved From:  http://www.brantnews.com/sports.cfm?page=sports&section=read&articleId=8839

The North Park Collegiate Trojans senior girls’ basketball team is two days away from what the players and coach believe will be their toughest game of the regular season.


The Trojans will meet last year’s city champions and provincial gold medalists, the St. John’s College Green Eagles, on Thursday (at NPC at 7 p.m.) and are using every chance they can to prepare themselves for the challenge.

On Tuesday, the Paris District High School Panthers hosted the Trojans and the visitors notched a 45-11 win.

More important than the victory, Trojans coach Andrea Hawkins said her team was improving with every game.

“They’re doing well,” Hawkins said. “We’ve started doing the little things better and our defence really improved this weekend and I think we will handle the pressure against St. John’s well this time.”

Despite the fact that Hawkins expects the Green Eagles to be a very strong opponent, she knows the game will help her team further improve and build toward its goal of advancing past the city finals to the AAA Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association tournament.

"I love playing against the Green Eagles because we’re only going to get better,” she said. “We’re trying to prepare for CWOSSA and playing St. John’s will on make us better.”

On the other side of the court, the Panthers are also working toward goals as coach Dani Hawkins watches her team build on its strengths and deal with a lack of experience but wealth of enthusiastic athletes.

“They’re coming to practice and they’re working hard,” Panthers coach Hawkins said. “They are starting to play real tough defence and starting to pass really well.

“We don’t have a lot of experience,” she said. “I have no kids who play club basketball right now, we always have a team, but I’ve got 11 kids who only started playing when they were 14.

While the Trojans controlled the game, leading 17-6 at half time before extending their margin significantly, the Panthers coach saw a lot of promise, particularly in her team's defence.

The Panthers defensive work overall was strong and, in particular, Brittany Gillmor broke up several Trojans’ plays by stealing the ball and shooting down the court to net two pointers.

Overall, the Trojans used the game to practice their systems and approaches to both offence and defence, while also rotating in younger and less experienced players to ensure depth on the bench.

The Trojans were led in scoring by Cassie Fletcher (14 points), Allyson Ballantyne (10 points) and Laura Chapple (5 points). The Panthers top players were Sam Ferretti, Olivia Aerosmith and Gillmor.

In the other girls’ basketball game played at Paris District High School, the Trojans defeated the Panthers 49-15. The Trojans top players were Abbey Johnston (15 points), Sara Rawls (9 points) and Rebecca Adkins (8 points). The Panthers top players were Alex Forsyth (6 points), Beth Stulen (5 points) and Skylar Wright (2 points).