Article By: Michael-Allan MarionPARIS – The St. John's College Green Eagles junior and senior girls basketball teams each grabbed wins Tuesday in opening games of the Brant County high school championship series.
Playing at Paris District High School, the junior Eagles defeated the Assumption College Lions in convincing fashion 52-31 in fast aggressive play to take the lead in the best-of-three championship series.
Not to be outdone by their junior counterparts, the senior Eagles tamed the Brantford Collegiate Institute Mustangs, 53-21.
Undefeated this season, the junior Eagles were the city champions last year and finished second in the CWOSSA championships.
“I've got a good group of girls – a well-rounded team where every girl can give me a decent amount of minutes,” Eagles coach Alexa Santilli said after the final buzzer.
“We started to play our game right from the get-go, and that's how we did it all the way through.”
The junior Eagles broke out early in the first quarter with seven baskets for 14 points before Assumption could get on the board. Assumption worked slowly to close the gap to 18-11 at one point.
But in the second quarter, the Eagles broke out again with another eight points before Assumption could recover.
The two sides were evenly matched, trading end-to-end court rushes through the rest of the second period, but the Eagles launched a third offensive, closing out the third period 45-23.
The Lions rallied a bit in the fourth period with eight points, but they could not recover the ground, as the game finished 52-31.
The senior Eagles demonstrated why they have won the city championships seven years in a row and have captured one gold and two silvers in OFSAA championships.
“We came prepared and played with intensity,” said coach Matt Lynch.
“It was all about defence. It was not just one player but a team effort — and they were great. And offensively our players were very unselfish, making the extra pass to find the right open player.”
The Eagles found the basket five times in the first period, while their competition could only respond twice, for a 10-4 lead.
They soared in the second quarter with a combination of three three-point throws, supplemented by five two-point baskets to increase the lead to 28-10.
The Eagles just kept climbing in the third and fourth quarters, ratcheting the score by 25 points, while the Mustangs answered with 11.
Game 2 of the junior series is Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Paris, followed the senior game at 7 p.m.
Retrieved From: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2013/11/05/senior-junior-green-eagles-open-with-victories
