After splitting two games in the regular season against the St. Benedict Saints, the Resurrection Phoenix saved their best performance against SBCSS for last in the D8 championship final on Friday evening in Kitchener.With both teams displaying some nerves early (only one field goal attempt in the first three minutes), the host Phoenix were the first to settle down. They jumped out to a 13-2 first-quarter edge, keyed by grade nine forward Jama Bin-Edward, and only briefly relinquished the double-digit lead once for the remainder of the game en route to a 34-19 victory over St. Benedict.
You could tell that the Phoenix were trying to key heavily on one of the best junior players in CWOSSA, St. Benedict guard Afifa Salaad. Strong help defense from Rez on the interior forced the Saints into some contested attempts, while the perimeter defense was equally strong on Friday, with Resurrection registering blocked shots on at least 4 perimeter jumpers.
The Saints were held to just eight made field goals, and just over 20% from the floor (8-for-39).
Bin-Edward, who exited the game briefly in the second quarter with a minor hand injury, keyed the block party as she had 6 by my count in addition to a strong effort on the defensive glass with 13 rebounds.
For Rez, grade nine guard Krissia Vasquez displayed a strong all-around game by leading the RCSS scoring with 13 points while adding three rebounds and two assists. Bin-Edward finished with 9 points (alongside the other stats noted above), while also scoring for the Phoenix were Meghan Sharpe (4), Natasha Mota (4), Rachel Engel (2), and Britney Haughton (2).
Salaad led the way for St. Benedict with 12, though she did need a couple of fourth quarter "and ones" to break double-digits on the day. The other 7 Saint points were accounted by Maddy Bodanis-Medley (2), Alexia Santos (2), Laura Ivits (2) and Sarah Sue-Ping (1).
Resurrection will advance to the AAAA CWOSSA championships being hosted by D10 this coming weekend.
Boxscore
RCSS 13-11-02-08 = 34
SBCSS 02-08-02-07 = 19
Resurrection
J. Bin-Edward 3-9 FG, 3-4 FT, 13 Reb, 0 Ast - 9 Pts.
K. Vasquez 6-14 FG, 1-2 FT, 3 Reb, 2 Ast - 13 Pts.
R. Engel 1-7 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Ast - 2 Pts.
B. Haughton 1-5 FG, 0-2 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
M. Sharpe 2-4 FG, 0-1 FT, 3 Reb, 3 Ast - 4 Pts.
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N. Mota 2-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
Field Goals: 15-43 (.348). Free-Throws: 4-9 (.444). Three-Point Goals: 0-1, .000 (M. Sharpe, 0-1).
St. Benedict
M. B-Medley 1-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 6 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
A. Salaad 5-17 FG, 1-6 FT, 6 Reb, 1 Ast - 12 Pts.
A. Santos 1-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.
S. Sue-Ping 0-1 FG, 1-2 FT, 7 Reb, 0 Ast - 1 Pt.
J. Mascarenhas 0-8 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
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K. DeJong 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
L. Ivits 1-6 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
J. Lowe 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
M. Widz 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 8-39 (.205). Free-Throws: 3-8 (.375). Three-Point Goals: 1-8, .125 (A. Salaad 1-3, L. Ivits 0-1, J. Mascarenhas 0-4).
