Phoenix, Eagles Set to Double Dip in D8 Finals

The Resurrection Phoenix and the St. Mary's Eagles will meet on championship Friday (tomorrow) in the D8 senior girls' basketball league, but both of them took very different paths to the final.

The Eagles had no problem dispatching #4 Monsignor Doyle, cruising past them to the tune of 50-6.  Laura Boterman paced St. Mary's with 14, Kaitlyn Schenck had 12, and Natasha Stoyakovich added in 6.  Erika Deutschmann netted 4 of the 'Stangs 6 points.

As the highest-placed remaining finisher, St. Mary's will now host the D8 championship doubleheader on Friday.

Resurrection received a big late-game surge from star Jacqui Rodrigues en route to a 43-40 hard fought win over the St. Benedict Saints in the "2 vs 3" matchup.  

A key three-pointer by Rodrigues pushed the Phoenix to the lead, and they were able to hold on despite some shaky free-throw shooting by both clubs.

With the Phoenix up 40-39, they were fouled and made 1-of-2 to push the lead back up to 2.  The Saints, with about 20 seconds left in the game, were fouled and had a chance to tie, but another split at the line allowed the Phoenix to hold the lead (41-40) and forced the Saints to foul.

Another 1-of-2 split for the Phoenix only kept the lead at 2, but the Saints were unable to score with under :10 to play --- fouling Resurrection again with :08 on the clock.  Rodrigues calmly drilled the first free-throw, but missed the second which technically would have still given the Saints a chance, but Rez controlled the offensive rebound and time expired.

Rodrigues led the balanced Rez scoring attack with 15, while Janelle Santi had 10, Danielle Duncan 8, and Marley Niescier 8.  Alisa Tkaczyk had 12 for the Saints, with Rachel Corant adding 11 and Meaghan Manson netting 4.

Junior

On the junior side of things, both the Resurrection Phoenix (over St. Benedict) and the St. Mary's Eagles (over St. David) won by identical 35-20 scores.

In the Eagles-Celtics game, Sydney Greulich led all scores with 13 for St. Mary's, while Angela Mercurio netted 7.  Heather Sandall (5) and Maria Valencia (4) paced the Celts.

Over in west Kitchener, Rez received 10 from Celia McGlynn, 9 from Sarah Shultz, and 8 from Andrea Phillippi to get past St. Benedict.  Kayla Leusink had 10 and Amber Baetsen 6 for the Saints.

Despite their lower seed, the junior final also takes place at the venue of the top team in the senior league, so the Eagles will have homecourt advantage in what should be a thrilling final.  The junior Phoenix won both games against St. Mary's this season, but only by a combined 7 points.  

The junior game tips-off at 6pm on Friday, with the senior game to follow after (scheduled for 8pm).