WATERFORD - The Waterford Wolves senior girls basketball team moved one step closer to advancing to CWOSSA playoffs after downing the visiting Valley Heights Bears 36-19 Thursday afternoon.
On the surface, the game was just a regular season match between the two last place teams in the Norfolk high school league.
But because the two schools are the only ‘A’ level schools in the county, the team with the best regular season record will advance to the provincial regional playoffs even if they lose out in county playoffs.
With only two games left in the season, Thursday’s win probably means Waterford will go to CWOSSA. The Bears have yet to win a game this season.
Despite the lopsided score, Valley Heights played an impressive game and came on strong in the last quarter.
For the Wolves, the win was their second of the season, both coming at the expense of the Bears.
“Our team’s fast break worked well and our defence is improving,” said Waterford coach Dan Avey. “Our overall teamwork is improving. The ladies hustled, and that’s good to see.”
The Wolves, however, still need to improve its “passing, patience, and teamwork,” added Avey.
Waterford's Rachel Szymezko said she felt the game was her team’s best effort of the season.
“A lot of us were excited because we pretty much haven’t won a game in a while so it felt pretty good,” said Szymezko.
Valley Heights coach Jillian Backus said she saw improvements in her team’s play and said her squad is starting to “gel.”
“We have been working a lot on our teamwork and passing. We want to make sure we have a good opportunity to shoot. We were aggressive the whole game.”
Bears player Stephanie Fros said her team played well despite the score.
“We played with them. We played aggressively. We played as a team,” said Fros.
Backus noted her team’s roster is large this year and her goal is to get everybody playing and to focus on “having fun.”
She said she has also been trying to get the girls to play with “depth and subtlety” — running new plays and getting them to use “silent communication” on the court.
Fros said losing so much was hard on the team at the beginning of the season until one player, Alex Franklin, started giving pep talks before every game.
“We went from negative to positive,” said Fros.
Waterford was led by Gillian Bergsma, who scored 11 points, and Szymezko, who potted nine.
The Bears’ Sara Klassen counted for seven while Shandi Pace had six.
The Wolves' last two games of the season are on the road — Tuesday at Holy Trinity and Thursday at Simcoe Composite School.
Retrieved From: http://www.simcoereformer.ca/2012/10/18/wolves-move-closer-to-cwossa-goal
