CAMBRIDGE — Jasmine Ramcharan and the Jacob
Hespeler Hawks are looking ahead as they prepare for their second
straight appearance in the championship final of the Waterloo County
senior girls basketball league.
The Hawks booked their spot in Tuesday's
final against the Grand River Renegades with a 43-30 win over the
visiting KCI Raiders on Thursday afternoon. Grand River defeated the
Waterloo Vikings 51-42 in Thursday's other semifinal.
The Hawks fell to Waterloo-Oxford Crusaders
in last year's final, and Ramcharan is hopeful of a different result
this time around.
"It should be a good game but this year we
want to win. It was pretty disappointing last year but you have to
forget about the past and just get the win," she said.
Candice Wright led the Jacob Hespeler attack against KCI with 18 points, and Kendra Dennis had 13.
The Hawks led 24-16 at the half and were
never in danger of relinquishing that lead in the second half.
Alia Hazineh and Michaela Schlumberger led the Raiders with eight and five points respectively.
The six-foot-two Wright was dominant
throughout and will no doubt receive plenty of attention from Grand
River defenders.
"We're always pushing the ball, looking for
Can inside, and if it's there we'll take it. If it's not, we look for
something else and try to create open shots for other teammates," said
Ramcharan.
The Raiders advanced to the semifinals with a
49-46 upset victory over the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels on Tuesday.
They earned a spot in next week's Central Western Ontario triple-A
tournament with the win.
The win over Cameron Heights was a costly
one as team leader Frances Campbell went down with a knee injury. KCI's
student council co-premier was on the bench for Thursday's loss but was
clearly missed.
Still, Raiders head coach Nick White was satisfied with his team's performance.
"From where we started to where we are now,
you can't complain ... they worked hard, pulled off a big upset they'll
remember, and we're moving on to CWOSSA, so it's a good season," he
said.
Nyamuoch Teny and Maya Day paced the Grand
River attack with 15 and 14 points respectively, while Kaylee
Anagnostopoulos had 16 and Danielle Sauve had 12 for WCI.
Grand River (14-0) and Jacob Hespeler (13-1)
did not meet during the regular season. The time and location for
Tuesday's final is to be determined on Friday.
Jacob Hespeler, KCI and Bluevale will
compete at next week's CWOSSA triple-A championship, while WCI and Grand
River will play at the quad-A tournament.
