A strong defensive effort, coupled with capable shooting has sent the Assumption College Lions to the semifinals.
The Lions senior girls' basketball team applied strong defensive pressure at their home gym on Tuesday to beat the Pauline Johnson Collegiate Thunderbirds 60-28.
While the Thunderbirds are eliminated from the competition, the Lions will advance to play the St. John's College Green Eagles in a must-win semifinal on Thursday.
Lions coach Rick Heron said his team will need all the defensive strength they can muster to take on the Eagles and their undefeated Brant County record.
”Going into the game against St. John’s, we wanted to really work hard in defence,” Heron said. “Obviously we have to do everything well to have a chance on Thursday.
“We need to limit the amount of time they have with the ball. It’s going to take our very best effort to beat them, they’re obviously a stellar team.”
Mistakes and execution of plays were the clear difference in the first half against the Thunderbirds, with the Lions making more use of their time with the ball.
“They were the better team,” Thunderbirds coach Neal Stamer said. “We’re just unlucky enough to play in one of the strongest basketball cities in Ontario.”
The Lions scored the first basket and although the Thunderbirds shot right back with one of their own, Lion Jerika Baldin upped the ante, netting a three-point basket to extend her team's lead.
Thunderbird Jessie Poisson hit a three point for her team shortly afterwards, but the Lions led 17-5 at the end of the first quarter.
The Lions turned the defensive pressure up a notch in the second, forcing more turnovers and intercepting a lot of passes to break the Thunderbirds' rhythm.
The Lions started the break away from their opposition late in the second quarter and had a convincing 27-8 lead at half time.
The Thunderbirds continued to work hard in the third half, but couldn't escape the defence of the Lions.
T-Birds Sam Buck and Brittany Hughes helped their team out with points in the third quarter, but the Lions continued to extend the scoring gap. The Lions led 46-19 at the end of the third.
Thunderbirds Krista Riimand and Chelsea Biggs gave their team some advantage under the net at both ends of the court, using their height to secure rebounds and block shots.
But the Lions worked the outside of the key as well as inside to construct their scoring chances.
The Lions tallied a further 14 points in the fourth to secure their spot in the semifinal.
The Lions were led in points scoring by Emily Gill (12), Meaghan Hanley (10) and Jerika Baldin (10). The Thunderbirds were led by Chelsea Biggs (15), Erica Hewson (5) and Sam Buck (5).
In the other senior girls’ basketball game on Tuesday, the Brantford Collegiate Institute Mustangs defeated the Paris District High School Panthers 53-20.
In junior basketball, BCI defeated PDHS 45-20 and the North Park Collegiate Trojans defeated the PJC Thunderbirds.
Semifinal schedule, Thursday
Junior
NPC at ACS, 4 p.m.
BCI at SJC, 5:30 p.m.
Senior
BCI at NPC, 7 p.m.
ACS at SJC, 7 p.m.
Retrieved From: http://www.brantnews.com/sports.cfm?page=sports§ion=read&articleId=9131
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