After poor free-throw shooting cost Jacob Hespeler dearly in two tournament final games that I witnessed (evidence here and here) earlier this season, they made sure it wouldn't happen again on Saturday night at Cameron Heights in Kitchener.
The Hawk starters went 10-for-14 (71%) on Saturday evening to help solidify themselves against any possibility of a Southwood comeback during a 43-32 semifinal win. The victory was Jacob Hespeler's first-ever WCSSAA semifinal victory at the boys' or girls' senior level.
JHSS jumped out to a 21-12 halftime edge thanks in part to some hot shooting from Naomi Adams, who had 12 points herself in the opening 16 minutes, while also contributing 4 rebounds.
The Sabres certainly were within "striking distance" for most of the second half but just could not get key shots to drop at opportune times. That said, the Sabres will still advance to "AAA" CWOSSA and the future is still bright at SSS as they have one starter (Taylor White) only in grade 10 while the three reserves that saw court time were either in grade 9 or 10 as well.
Adams finished with 16 points and 6 rebounds for JHSS, while Candice Wright added 8.
Brooklyn Wright (7 points, 6 rebounds), Courtney Wright (5), Taylor Dennis (3), Jess Huestis (2) and Meaghan Rudd (2) rounded out the Hawk scoring.
Nicole Barnard had 15 points and 7 rebounds to lead Southwood in both categories, while Kayleigh Hutt-Taylor was next with 7. Also scoring for SSS were Cali Doran (5), Taylor White (4) and Brianne Jewell (1).
Both teams will also advance to this coming weekend's "AAA" CWOSSA championships.
Boxscore
SSS 06-06-08-12 = 32
JHSS 08-13-10-12 = 43
Southwood
K. Hutt-Taylor 2 3-4 7, C. Harley 0 0-2 0, C. Doran 2 0-0 5, T. White 2 0-0 4, N. Barnard 5 3-5 15, M. Cole 0 0-0 0, B. Jewell 0 1-2 1, S. Carey 0 0-0 0.
Three-Point Goals: N. Barnard 2, C. Doran 1.
Jacob Hespeler
N. Adams 8 0-0 16, Co. Wright 1 3-4 5, M. Rudd 1 0-0 2, B. Wright 2 3-4 7, Ca. Wright 2 4-6 8, J. Huestis 1 0-0 2, T. Dennis 1 1-3 3, A. Barnard 0 0-0 0.
Three-Point Goals: None.
