The St. John's College Green Eagles would not be denied this time.
After a dominant performance that produced a one-point loss in Game 1 of the Brant County junior girls basketball final, they bounced back with a 41-33 win over the North Park Collegiate Trojans Thursday on the road.
"We are ecstatic to get this win," Lauren deMontmorency said. "We came into this game with a mindset that we had to win and we had to do this for our school. This was huge for us."
The Green Eagles came out flying, mounting a 13-3 lead after one quarter and increased it to 18-5 by the half.
"We were excited at half that we were up like that but we wanted to come out with the right mindset," deMontmorency said.
"We wanted to come out thinking it was 0-0, just like at the beginning. We knew we were doing a lot of things right but we all knew we couldn't get ahead of ourselves."
And because of that mindset, the Green Eagles were able to fend off an almost epic comeback from the previously undefeated Trojans.
"There were no doubts at all," deMontmorency said. "We have so much faith in each other and have so much trust. We have an unbelievable team and I'm glad we were able to show that tonight.
"We had to slow down the game and run our offence. We didn't want to let the game take control of us," she said.
But it almost did.
Up by as much as 17, the Trojans got within five points with 1:47 left in the game. But a Rebecca Mckinnon basket, followed by a pair of free throws moments later, put the game out of reach for the Green Eagles.
"We were saying we just have to stay positive," deMontmorency said of a key timeout during the Trojans' surge.
"We knew we had this. If we work hard we'll get the win."
The win ties the best-of-three final series 1-1 and sets up a third and deciding game Monday at 5:30 p.m. at North Park.
"We just have to come out with the same kind of confidence we had tonight and all season,"
deMontmorency said. "It was the exact same kind of game except this time we were able to get the win. (Monday) We have to make sure we keep our heads up and play Eagles basketball."
For the Trojans, it was a tough loss.
"It was a tough game," Gabrielle Marton said. "We worked really hard but we didn't come out our best at the beginning. I think if we started a little stronger the score would've been much different."
Marton said the game plan is simple for Game 3.
"Play like we did in the second half," Marton said. "It was great to come back. It'll give us some confidence heading into Monday. We just have to do that earlier."
Retrieved From: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/11/08/junior-green-eagles-force-game-3-showdown
