Stifling defense and good offense. That was the recipe to the 4th consecutive D8 Junior Title for the Resurrection Phoenix, who dominated #3 seeded St. Benedict 54-13 down in Cambridge on Friday evening in the championship game.
Rez, my current #1 ranked team in CWOSSA, opened the game on a 15-0 run, before St. Benedict's Nana-Afia Agyeipah got them on the board with a couple of free-throws before the end of the quarter. Rez held a 19-3 lead after one.
It was more of the same in the second, although it was clear that the Phoenix had this one in the bag and began to roll in two lines of five players each (they had 10 dressed for this game). Krissia Vasquez displayed strong shot-making ability while sisters Jama and Buse Bin-Edward were forces on the offensive glass, providing numerous second-chance opportunities.
The Phoenix led 38-5 at half, and 46-5 after three.
St. Benedict didn't actually score a field goal until 3:20 remaining in the game, but found their touch in the last couple of minutes, outscoring Rez 8-6 down the stretch.
For Rez, they had a balanced scoresheet with five players scoring six points or more --- Krissia Vasquez (13), Jama Bin-Edward (10), Maddy Antwi (9), Meghan Sharpe (6) and Delina Romano (6).
Vasquez was particularly impressive, with a nice mid-range game and scored her 13 points on only 9 field goal attempts. Jama Bin-Edward's athleticism was also on display, including on one play early in the third quarter where she missed a shot, only to beat St. Benedict's rebounders to the other side of the basket to grab the rebound and make the subsequent layup. She finished with 12 rebounds in the contest.
8 of 10 Resurrection players registered at least one assist in a game where the Phoenix shot 45% from the floor (25-for-55).
St. Benedict's points were accounted for by Maya Danis (6), Makayla Cabral (4), and Nana-Afia Agyeipah (3). Agyeipah did a nice job on the interior, and also had 6 rebounds for the Saints.
Resurrection will advance to play CWOSSA #3 Brantford Collegiate in a CWOSSA "AAAA" play-in game this Wednesday (at RCSS, time TBD).
