Article By: Darryl Smart
Morgan Hotz and her Simcoe Sabres teammates
wanted another shot at the Delhi Raiders, and thanks to a 37-27
come-from-behind victory over the Holy Trinity Titans, the rematch of
last year’s Norfolk Secondary School Athletic Association senior girls
final is set.
“We’re really excited to get back to the
final,” Hotz said. “It’s really nice to get back there. We all really
wanted to get back to the final, especially after losing to them (Delhi)
last year.”
But to do it, the second-place Sabres need
to gut it out against a gritty Titans team that gave them all they could
handle.
“It wasn’t a surprise they came out hard,”
Hotz said. “They’ve got a good team so we were preparing ourselves for a
good game. We certainly didn’t overlook them because we knew it would
be a tight game.”
After jumping out to an 8-0 lead, it wasn’t
until 2:41 left in the first quarter before the Titans got a point.
Despite that, the Titans chipped away and were within a pair at the
half.
By the end of the third quarter, the Titans
had a four-point lead, and looked poised to upset their rivals.
But Hotz and her teammates had something to
say about that, regaining the lead midway through the fourth quarter,
and not looking back.
“I feel like we really came back well in the
second half,” Hotz said. “We did a great job of coming together as a
group and pulling this win out.
“He (coach Bill Macovik) said he was really
proud of us for the way we came back, and how we were communicating,”
she said. “We’ve been tested a lot this year. We’ve realized that you
can’t get down on yourself because the game isn’t over until it’s over.”
Hotz led the Sabres with 10 points, while
Tori Matthews had eight and Hailey Taylor added seven. Rachel Krisko
scored five points, with Tiara Catherwood netting four. April Harriott
scored two, while Taome Muntz-Flowerday and Tonya Keane pitched in with
one each.
In the other semifinal, the first-place, and undefeated Raiders rolled over the Waterford Wolves.
The dynamic duo of Emily Leger, Breanne
VandeVen led the Raiders, scoring 15 and 16 respectively, while Kara
Ebdon and Tessa Hamilton each netted six. Kelsey Ward scored four
points, while Kassidy Deming had two.
The NSSAA senior girls basketball final
between the Sabres and Raiders takes place 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Delhi
District Secondary School.
