U15 Day 2 Recap – 2011 Women’s National Championship
Winnipeg, MB—Day 2 of the National Women’s U15 championships was a day of blowouts as all but 1 team (Nova Scotia) took the court for action.
Game 1: Newfoundland vs. New Brunswick:
New Brunswick was in firm control of the game from the get go, as they easily defeated the lower ranked Newfoundland team by a score of 47-35.
Players who stood out for New Brunswick were Abby MacDonald who led all scorers with 12 and grabbed 6 rebounds to go with that. Her leadership earned her a majority of playing time and help NB to a victory. Also Katie Daley played a key role for team New Brunswick as she managed 10 points and 5 rebounds and solid playing time. Daley and MacDonald were on the floor for most of the game helping shut down Newfoundland and steer the NB offense in the right direction.
From the Newfoundland side, Kelsey Moore had a solid game scoring 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds to help lead the Newfoundland scoring attack.
Newfoundland and New Brunswick will both play Manitoba on Day 3.
Game 2: British Columbia vs. Ontario:
This was the most anticipated game on the U15 Day 2 schedule, with the #1 ranked Ontario facing off against the #3 ranked British Columbia. The hype unfortunately lasted for just the first half, until the Ontario side took control of the game and ran away on the scoreboard finishing with a 75-55 victory.
With Ontario coming off a big win against 4th ranked Alberta they thrived on their success and went to work early on a BC team that was finding its legs in the 1st quarter. Kia Nurse was the main reason for the early Ontario control. Kia was getting it done on both ends of the floor playing strong aggressive defence and was smart offensively drawing fouls on drives to the basket.
A strong 2nd quarter led by Amanda Yearwood and Morgan Roskelley allowed BC to erase the 1st quarter deficit and slowly claw its way back into the game and tie it up going into halftime at 29 apiece.
Ontario’s head coach Jodi Gram must have said something pretty inspirational to the team at halftime because when the 3rd quarter started Ontario looked like a totally different team. A back breaking scoring run lead by Ontario’s Kia Nurse and company crushed BC; they never fully recovered from it.
The Ontario side cruised to a large victory with solid performances from Kia Nurse who led the way all game scoring 20 points, grabbing 6 rebounds and earning 8 steals. Hilary Hanaka had a strong performance scoring 11 points and 6 assists. Mikalah Mulrain was effective on the rebounding front for Ontario grabbing 9 rebounds and added 5 points.
A majority of British Columbia’s offense was through Amanda Yearwood who had a game high 20 points, and 9 rebounds and 4 blocks. Yearwood showed her inside touch and her desire to chase down rebounds to keep the play alive. Another key piece on the BC side was Jessie Brown who managed to find her game in the 2nd half finishing with 8 points and 4 rebounds. Michelle Bos did not stuff the stat’s sheet but played solid minutes and had a big effect on the game at key moments during the game.
Tomorrow Ontario will play Quebec and British Columbia will look to get back into the win column against Alberta on day 3.
Game 3: Manitoba vs. Saskatchewan:
Whenever Manitoba and Saskatchewan face off in any sport, you know it is going to be a good rivalry. As expected the Saskatchewan faithful were out in full force wearing the Riders jerseys and showing off the Green pride. The Manitoba crowd was accounted for as well as the hometown crowd came out to support the girls in the Prairie rivalry.
A slow start by both sides kept the score relatively low to begin as both sides kept getting the unfortunate bounce of the rim. Saskatchewan would prevail by a slight margin beating the provincial neighbours by a score of 67-58.
Turnovers were the story in this game, with the combined number of turnovers totalling 62.
A much needed 2nd half performance by Saskatchewan’s Haley Mitchell held off a Manitoba comeback. Mitchell had a great game doing almost everything. She made three 3 pointers earning her a total of 17 points, grabbed 12 rebounds (8 offensive) dished out 5 assists, and blocked 3 shots.
On the other side, Manitoba was led by Nikki Majewski who led all scorers with 18 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and had 2 assists and 4 steals. Another key piece to the Manitoba team was Susanna Namgung who managed 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals was huge on defence and was able to break the full court press and bring up the ball consistently.
Manitoba will play both Newfoundland and New Brunswick and Saskatchewan will face Nova Scotia on day 3.
Game 4: Alberta vs. Quebec:
Team Quebec was able to slowly grind down a strong Alberta team and earn another victory. A tough performance by Tamara Farquhar made the difference as Quebec won by a score of 62-40.
Alberta was hanging on for most of the game, not allowing Quebec to get too far ahead of them on the scoreboard. Led by Kacie Bosch and Chiso Ufondu, they were able to bring the ball up effectively against a strong full court pressure by Quebec.
Going into the 4th quarter Team Quebec dug deep and finished the game off not allowing Alberta a chance to comeback due to Farquhar’s solid rebounding and not allowing the Alberta team to get second chance opportunities.
Quebec’s Farquhar led the way in all major stats categories with 13 points, and 21 rebounds. Also aiding the Quebec attack was Laurie Marchand who added 12 points. Metcheline Gabelus only registered 6 points but had the most contribution on the defensive side of the ball where she forced turnovers with aggressive defensive play.
On the other side Alberta’s Kacie Bosch was key in bringing up the ball and running the offense scoring 10 points and grabbing 9 rebounds as well as earning 4 steals. The other standout was Chiso Ufondu who registered 6 points and 10 rebounds.
Alberta will play BC and Quebec will face Ontario on day 3.
