Abby Heron's face said it all.
With two black eyes and a broken nose from a weekend tournament, the Assumption College player kept battling Thursday night against the North Park Collegiate Trojans until she and her teammates finally punched their ticket to the Brant County senior girls basketball final.
But to do it, Heron scored 12 points and Jerika Baldin added 11 in a 42-37 come-from-behind victory at home to set up a rematch of last season's final with the St. John's College Green Eagles.
“It's a pretty big relief,” Heron said. “This was a nervous one. I think they (NPC) came out wanting it, but in the end, especially in the second half, we wanted it more.”
With the Trojans playing the perfect road game, with tough defence and scoring when they had their opportunities, they led by a pair after one quarter and increased the lead to 18-12 at the half.
“We expected them wanting the ball and wanting to win and I think some of our players thought this might be an easy one,” Heron said. “At the half, the coaches said we were giving away too many second chances. In the second half we played like we could. We really brought our 'A' game.”
Pecking away at the lead, the Lions got their first lead of the game thanks to an Emily Gill drive to the hoop that gave them a 22-20 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
After exchanging the lead, the Lions were down 29-25 after three quarters. That's when the veterans stepped up and shut the door on the Trojans in the last five minutes of the game.
“We communicated more and stopped giving them easy baskets like we were,” Heron said. “They were playing good but we were giving them way too much.”
And as one of the veterans, Heron said the key to coming back was simple.
“We were trying to calm them down by saying 'let's just play our game,'” Heron said. “We've been here before and know what to expect. We just had to play our game and not worry about what they're doing."
With the win and the Green Eagles' 36-25 victory over the Brantford Collegiate Mustangs in the other semifinal, it sets up for the rubber match between the two top teams in the league this season.
“I want to win it this year,” Heron said. “I'm excited to play them. We've each won a game this year and in the last game last year they beat us by one. Hopefully it's our turn to win.”
ACS 42, NPC 37.
ACS: Abby Heron 12, Jerika Baldin 11, Alex VanDyk 6, Emily Gill 6, Rikayla Baldin 5, Nicole Shea 2.
NPC: Abbey Sayles 16, Jessica Grant 12, Allyson DeLorenzi 8, Natasha Linnington 2.
Retrieved From: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/11/01/lions-roar-back-in-semifinal
