October 2012 FOREST HILL TOWN CRIER
TownSports
15
Bobcats maul
Gators in b-ball
Perry King
Sports
francis crescia/town crier
GO ON, I DARE YOU: Bishop Strachan’s Rachel Hendrich, left, blocks Havergal’s Tory O’Driscoll
from passing the ball during the schools’ recent senior basketball match. While it was a hard-fought
game, BSS can out on top, out scoring their rivals 44–36.
With a swarming defence
and opportunistic baskets, the
Bishop Strachan School Bobcats took a bite out of the
Havergal Gators, 44–36.
The game was a rough
contest between rivals, as
Havergal’s skilled passing
and jumpshots put them ahead
early in the game and 20–19 at
halftime.
Using a full court press,
the Gators forced a number
of turnovers and created fast
break points. But the Bobcats
were able to adjust, letting
their passing throw the Gator
defence off balance.
“There was no secret to
it, it was hard man-to-man
[defence] with hand in front,
and they were able to gut it
out,” Bobcats coach Lester
Smith said.
“I felt that it was one of
those games that we tended
to warm up to as we went,”
Bishop Strachan guard Allison
Harris said. “In the first half,
we were just feeling out the
team. Our offense wasn’t as
strong as it usually was, we
weren’t being as aggressive.”
The Bobcats offence eventually picked it up, draining
three-point buckets from Harris, and grabbing offensive
rebounds from their big forwards.
“We hit some outside shots,
which helped a lot,” said
Smith. “We have some skilled
girls, and they were able to
hit. We had three or four threepointers, which was probably
the difference in the game.”
The Gators never gave up,
ending the game with an 8–0
run, but running out of time.
“We tried our hardest,
and sometimes other teams
are going to come back with
something different,” Havergal forward Flora Hay said.
“We’re still new, still working as a team, we have some
juniors pulled up, a lot of
players our way. But just [need
to] keep trying our hardest and
re-adjust to what other teams
do.”
The contest was very physical, with a good share of jumpballs and freethrow attempts
by both squads. But the Bobcats pulled away with a 16–6
third quarter and didn’t look
back.
With a three-guard starting
lineup, the Bobcats want to
work on their passing.
“We have to move the ball
around the outside, and allow
our inside people to get open,
and that wasn’t happening,”
Smith said. “We were able to
drive from the side, because
we have some fast girls. But
we have to allow our bigger people to be a part of the
game, other than rebounding.”
Harris hopes to replicate
the second half for games to
come.
“It was definitely a rough
game, a lot of people on the
floor, a few elbows to the
face,” said Harris. “It went
to show how hard the defence
was.”
Great season predicted for Vaughan Road
Young team looks
to strut its stuff
Perry King
Sports
Vaughan Road Academy is
known widely for its basketball
culture and winning tradition,
and the senior girls lived up to
that reputation.
Along with the senior boys,
the girls won the city championships last school year,
defending their title against
Runnymede Collegiate last
November.
“I was glad we repeated as
city champs, and got to represent the Toronto District School
Board at OFSAA,” Vaughan
Road Vipers coach Wilton Hall
said. “That was our goal from
the beginning.”
The Vipers had a strong season. Led by forwards Sandra
Amoah and Aleena Domingo,
the Vipers were known for
their inside dominance, snake
at both ends of the court.
Unfortunately, Hall’s squad
couldn’t take the next step, losing out to more skilled, faster
teams at the OFSAA tournament in St. Catharines.
Hall, who also helms the
senior boys’ team, put together
a squad of girls from grades 9
to 12, and showed tremendous
improvement over the season.
Unfortunately, experience
and depth became a factor in the
Vipers’ showing at OFSAA.
“I think a lot of girls in the
inner city don’t play a lot of
basketball, they just play high
school basketball, while those
other girls are playing [provincial] and other rep leagues,”
said Hall, who noted the city’s
season is quite short and there
are fewer chances to prepare
for bigger tournaments.
Hall is always looking forward, and the challenge of
putting together a return performance will be harder than
last. All of Vaughan Road’s
senior leadership graduated last
year, with seven girls making
a return.
Veterans, including grade 12
students Grace Synch, Revee
Schultz and Kadijah Lawrence,
are being asked to step up in a
leadership role. Meagan Liu,
Mitzi Nieves, and Lisa Li, all
of them grade 10 students, will
Photo Courtesy Dusan Ignjatovic
LAST YEAR’S CHAMPS: Vaughan Road Academy’s senior girls and senior boys basketball won city championships last year, but were
unable to win at OFSAA.
be given more minutes.
With all the wholesale
changes to the team, Hall will
be tempering his expectations.
“Our goal this year is to
try to compete at the West
[region],” he said. “Hopefully, looking at the schedule,
in terms of AA schools, we’ll
compete for OFSAA again. But
that’s not our main goal this
year.”