Womens Nationals U15 Day 4 Recap
FOLLOW ARMAAN AHLUWALIA @THEREALBRINDIAN AND NPH @NORTHPOLEHOOPS
On Day 4 of the Women’s National Championships it was the quarter finals for the U15 side that were still in contention for gold. There were only two games and the winners would move on to play in the semi finals on Day 5 of the competition.
The first game had Alberta taking on neighbouring province Saskatchewan in another version of the prairie rivalry. Alberta would emerge victorious after a strong first quarter and a hard fought second half. In the other game, it was Nova Scotia who had looked dominant in the lower pool playing against British Columbia who had struggled losing all of their round robin games in pool A. British Columbia managed to pull away in an extremely hard fought battle as both sides would not give too much to their opponent.
Game 1: Alberta vs. Saskatchewan
Alberta managed to easily pull away in this game with a strong first quarter they set the tone for the game winning 62-33.
This game had a very slow start, as both teams struggled to score in the first quarter. With 2:50 left in the quarter the teams finally broke the plateau score which was sitting at 5-3 in Alberta’s favour. After that Alberta who was led by Kacie Bosch regained their focus and scored ten quick points and kept Saskatchewan in check defensively holding them to five points in the 1st quarter.
From there on out Alberta was in firm control and managed to keep Saskatchewan from scoring consistently. The 2nd half was much like the 1st quarter as Alberta locked down defensively and didn’t give Saskatchewan anything offensively.
A solid performance by Kacie Bosch helped Alberta pull out another victory as Bosch has been there every game for Alberta as a solid point guard who can bring up the ball and gets the offense going. She finished with 20 points, 5 steals, 3 assists and 2 rebounds both of which were offensive. She also earned a lot of her points at the charity strike going 8/12. Aiding her in this game were Drew Knox who had a dominant game on Day 3, she was not as dominant but provided quality minutes and scored 7 points, grabbed 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Chiso Ufondu was big in this game scoring 7 points but more importantly grabbing 12 rebounds. Other solid performances for Alberta were Sofia Lucadello, and Elizabeth Vinnell.
For Saskatchewan they were led by Britton Belyk who had a team high 9 points, Sascha Litchtenwald added 8 points of her own. Saskatchewan struggled offensively against Alberta as they were unable to get the shots they wanted.
Alberta moves on to face Quebec in the semi finals and Saskatchewan will face Nova Scotia for 5th place.
Game 2: Nova Scotia vs. British Columbia
In the second game it had Nova Scotia taking on British Columbia, this game would be hard fought as BC pulled away with a 71-60 victory, even though the score was an 11 point difference it was a lot closer.
In a West coast vs. East coast matchup there was plenty of fan support. British Columbia brought out its family support with full on cheering and Nova Scotia’s U17 team showed up to help counter the noise. In the end it made for a great atmosphere for the players.
British Columbia played like a totally different team in the first quarter. They came out playing like they had something to prove against this Nova Scotia team. In their first three games BC had gone winless, and Nova Scotia had gone undefeated. However, they were in separate pools an A division for the top four teams, and a B division for the 5-9 ranked teams.
BC decided it would be to their advantage to pound the ball down low to their bigs who had a height advantage over a smaller Nova Scotia team. It also didn’t help that their star player Daneesha Provo had two early fouls in the first few minutes, therefore sidelining her for a majority of the 1st half.
Nova Scotia would respond clawing back to within reach, thanks to Jayla Verney who had a game high 29 points and carried the entire Nova Scotia offense throughout the game. The 3rd quarter belonged to Nova Scotia as Dannesha checked back into the game giving the offense more life. However it would not be enough as BC remained calm and used their height to their advantage.
BC had help from all over in this game Lauren Yearwood had a strong game using her height to an advantage, she finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds and a strong defensive effort. Michelle Bos played extremely well and has been consistent in all of their games so far. She finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and also went 8/10 from the free throw line. Amanda Zacharuk was one of the reasons why BC started out with a comfortable lead. She scored 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Vanessa Gee had another solid game again proving that she is a good player, she finished with 10 points. Also aiding BC but not on the stats sheet was Morgan Roskelley who continues to be BC’s trusty point guard. In games she is calm and focused and never panics, she added 4 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.
On the other side, Jayla Verney was carrying the Nova Scotia offense while Daneesha Provo was on the bench. Verney made three 3 pointers and had 4 steals to go along with her game high 29 points. Daneesha Provo was good in the time she played scoring 8 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
British Columbia moves on to play Ontario in the semi finals, and Nova Scotia will play for 5th against Saskatchewan.
