Cambridge Times; Sept. 19/12
A No. 3 pre-season ranking by cwossabasketball.com has put a big target on the backs of the Jacob Hespeler Hawks.
While the Hawks showed flashes as to why they are considered a serious contender in Waterloo County senior girls’ basketball loop this season, a rancid third quarter proved to be their undoing as the Cameron Heights Gaels shocked the Hawks with a 41-37 win on Tuesday in the spring season opener at Jacob Hespeler Secondary School.
The Hawks outscored the Gaels in three quarters on Tuesday, but gave up a seemingly comfortable 21-14 halftime lead when they were outscored 22-6 in the third quarter.
“I think we just got lazy on defence and let them take wide open shots without putting a hand up. That kind of killed us,” said the Hawks top sniper on the day, Brooklyn Wright, who had 14 points.
It certainly didn’t help that it looked like someone put Saran Wrap over the basket in the second half, as Jacob Hespeler had trouble draining shots. A late comeback that got them within a point with two minutes to go was snuffed out by missed layups.
“It got kind of frustrating at one point,” Wright said.
“Nothing really fell for us in the second half.”
In the first half though, the Hawks held comfortable leads throughout the game, though their shooting was still suspect. Both teams looked like they had to shake the rust off from the summer, but a 10-4 run in the second quarter gave Jacob Hespeler their seven-point halftime lead.
The table were turned in the third quarter though, as the Gaels went on a scoring run of their own to a 36-27 lead by the end of the frame.
Jacob Hespeler caught fire in the fourth quarter and outscored Cameron 10-2 to cut the lead to one point, but missed shots forced the Hawks to foul at the end and that was it for the comeback.
It was a game Wright said her team expected to win.
“I think it was an eye-opener for us; I think we need to talk more on defence and have to play together as a team. This is our first game and we really haven’t done anything but scrimmage.”
Despite opening up with a loss, Wright assured that it would light a fire under the team.
“We’re not going to disappoint.”
Candice Wright also chipped in with nine points for the home squad, while Liz McLellan had 15 points for Cameron Heights and Hunter Johns had nine.
Retrieved From: http://www.cambridgetimes.ca/print/1504928
