(1) St. Benedict Saints (11-1) vs. (2) Resurrection Phoenix (9-3)Location: SBCSS, Tonight @ 8pm
The top two seeds in the D8 Senior circuit will battle tonight at St. Benedict for not only the D8 title, but also a potential trip to the CWOSSA "AAAA" tournament next week (the D8 champ will play Brantford CI for one of the four CWOSSA berths).
With these teams having played a couple of close contests during the regular season, most are anticipating a hard-fought battle tonight as well.
Resurrection will be seeking their third straight D8 title, although prior to those back-to-back championships, they had a sixteen year drought since their previous title (1995).
St. Benedict has only one senior title in their school's history, which was twelve years ago, back in 2002.
Previous D8 Senior Titles:
Resurrection (5): 2013, 2012, 1995, 1994, 1993
St. Benedict (1): 2002.
Regular Season Series
St. Benedict won two of the three games that the teams played during the regular season.
Interestingly enough, each team won a game on the other's home floor. Resurrection took a 48-45 victory at St. Benedict on October 20th, while the Saints secured home-court advantage with a 32-28 win at Resurrection on October 27th.
Back in September, St. Benedict defeated Resurrection by a 40-29 score.
How They Got Here
Both teams earned first-round byes in the tiered D8 Senior league, and then posted semifinal victories.
Rez snuck past #3 St. David, 34-32, backed by a late basket by CC McGlynn. St. Benedict, meanwhile, outlasted a pesky #5 St. Mary's squad by a 34-24 final score.
Key Players
St. Benedict: Afifa Salaad, Kayla Leusink, Julia Mascarenhas
Resurrection: CC McGlynn, Kelsey Caza (Q-Ankle), Patricia Enrique
Preview
One team has made a habit of being here over the past few seasons.
For the other, it'll be somewhat of a new experience.
The Resurrection Phoenix are making it seem like an annual appearance when it comes to participating in the D8 Senior Girls' basketball final; Rez has won the last two titles but has been a part of the last four title games.
St. Benedict doesn't have any Senior Girls' championship experience on their roster, though the key grade elevens on the squad were members of a strong SBCSS squad that lost to Resurrection in last year's Junior D8 final.
Neutralizing Rez's added experience might be the fact that the Saints are playing this game on their home floor, by virtue of being the #1 playoff seed.
"It's a great advantage that we get to play such an important game on our home floor," said SBCSS' Kayla Leusink, who led the Saints in semifinal scoring with ten points, "it's a bonus that we should have many fans which will definitely strengthen our mentality and resolve during the game."
Leusink and the Saints know that slowing down one of D8's top players, Rez's CC McGlynn, will be huge for their chances.
"(McGlynn) is our biggest challenge," Leusink said, "(trying to) shut her down will go a long way towards taking the title."
The proof is in the pudding with that comment, as the Saints held McGlynn to 11 points in each of SBCSS' two victories over Rez this season. In the Rez win over St. Benedict, she scored 20.
Leusink, and several of her other Saints' teammates, have never played in the D8 finals, and they're relishing the possible opportunity of winning a title on their home floor.
"I've never even played in the D8 finals, so this would mean so much to me," she said, "We've accomplished so much as a team and progressed throughout the season --- a victory would make us and (SBCSS) athletics so proud."
McGlynn, meanwhile, knows that a potentially big home crowd for the Saints won't make things easy for the Phoenix.
"Mainly for the younger girls on the team, it's about not letting the crowd get into your head, especially since the crowd won't likely be on our side," McGlynn noted.
"On the flip side, having experience in the atmosphere and knowing what to expect heading into this game can be an advantage," she added, referencing Rez's recent trips to the finals.
When asked what might be a key to success tonight, McGlynn noted that the Phoenix "can't afford to play a (slow-down) defensive game", which would probably favour St. Benedict.
In fact, 35 seems to be the magic number for Rez as they haven't lost a game yet in league play when they hit that point total. Of course, getting there will be easier said than done against a stingy Saint defense that gave up only 27.3 PPG during league games.
As for my thoughts, I agree with both Leusink and McGlynn that the crowd can play a key factor in this one. For the Saints, getting off to a hot start and giving their fans something to cheer about early could provide an (intimidating) boost. With Rez, it's the opposite. Controlling the pace early and not letting the crowd into it will surely spark the Phoenix's confidence tonight.
Picking this one isn't easy, as I could certainly see either team lifting the championship plaque tonight.
I just have a feeling that home court will be big for the Saints, so I'll go with them as my pick in this one.
My Pick: St. Benedict 40, Resurrection 34
