After taking one on the chin from their biggest rival in the first Brant County senior girls basketball game of the season, the St. John's Green Eagles responded Thursday night at home.
They beat the Assumption College Lions 57-41.
"We knew we had to win this game," Green Eagles' Bridget Monkman said.
"It's a bit of a relief to have this over with. Assumption is our biggest rival and we knew if we could beat them, it would set a good tone for the rest of the season."
Monkman helped lead the way with a 12-point performance.
"There's expectations because of how well our school has done in recent years, so we all know we want to keep the winning tradition alive," Monkman said.
After both teams went through a feeling out process in the first quarter, playing cautious defence, which led to a 10-8 Green Eagles lead, the home team began to outmuscle their rivals. By halftime, they led 30-18. At that point onward, it seemed everything was going the Green Eagles way, while the Lions couldn't seem to buy a break, even when the ball bounced off the backboard.
"It was nice having things go our way," Monkman said.
"We're coming together as a team," she said. "We're working more as a team now. We're more of a family and that showed in this game. It works much better when we're together as a unit."
The Green Eagles seem to be clicking on all cylinders.
"We can't be happy with just this win," Monkman said of the coaches speech after the game.
"The season isn't over. We have to respect our opponent because we know they're a good team. We always have to come out and bring our best everyday."
And that's something the Lions came back from after the defeat.
"I think we didn't play like a team like we usually do," Lions' Emily Gill said. "We have to keep our defence and we let them go to the line too much.
"It's a bit disappointing because it's not where we want to be," she said.
"But we have something to work on. We just have to regroup and work hard in practice."
Photo By: Kara Wilson (for the Expositor).
Retrieved From: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/10/11/senior-eagles-avenge-early-loss
Senior
St. John's 57, Assumption 41
SJC: Kendra VanLeeuwen 23, Bridget Monkman 12, Lauren Dubois 7, Brianna Bavota 7, Megan Piette 2, Monica Polgar 2, Rebecca Dabor 2, Megan Thompson 3.
ACS: Jerika Baldin 11, Emily Gill 11, Abby Heron 9, Sara Harris 2.
Paris 29, Pauline Johnson 8
North Park 54, Brantford 27
NPC: Allyson DeLorezi 16, Abbey Johnston 15, Abbey Sayles 10.
BCI: Rachel Adkins 10, Cara Humenik 6.
Junior
Paris 41, Pauline Johnson 16
PDHS: Avery Hamill 14, Sara Pfeiffer 12
PJC: Hena Patel 6, Cassie Pakula 4, Adrianna Blitterswyk 4.
St. John's 43, Assumption 22
SJC: Bridget Kwasnik 11, Lauren deMontmorency 6, Jen Garner 5, Erin Dubois 3, Zoie Porteous 2, Leah Coon 2, Alex Girardi 2, Samantha Dupont 2.
ACS: Jordyn Beda 14, Atalanta Crosby 3, Tanisha Osborne 2, Tatum Osborne 2, Lexi Gleason 2, Mahayla Markell 3.
North Park over Brantford CI
