U15 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – DAY 1 SUMMARY

GIRLS:

Ontario 83 Alberta 54

Team Ontario opened the 2009 U15 National Championships with an impressive 83-54 win over Alberta.  Despite an early Alberta lead, Ontario took over in the last two minutes of the first quarter and ended the opening frame 26-14.  Team Ontario continued their dominance in the second quarter, holding Alberta to just six points.  At half time, Ontario led 50-20. 

Alberta picked up their game in the second half; however, it was too little too late.  Ontario was led offensively by guard Shaylisha Colley (Brampton) with 32 points.  Colley and Dakota Whyte (Ajax) each had six rebounds for Ontario.  Guard Montana Romeril (Calgary) had 19 points to lead all Alberta scorers.  Meanwhile, Katie Waring (High River), Selali Acolatse (Edmonton) and Jordan MacLean (Hinton) all earned five rebounds for Alberta.  Whyte was the McDonald’s Player of the Game for Ontario and Waring took the prize for Alberta. 

British Columbia (Blue) 75 Nova Scotia 42

Home team BC Blue girls opened the U15 National Championships with a convincing win of 75-42 against Nova Scotia.  Going into the second quarter BC led 12-8.  Local player Emma Wolfram (Kamloops) led BC with 15 points in the second quarter, increasing their lead to 31-20 by the halftime mark. 

BC guard Alisha Roberts (Burnaby) was a strong force in the third quarter, combining with Wolfram to help BC Blue pull away 50-33.  Wolfram led the boards and added 29 points while Nova Scotia’s Denesha Sule (Cole Harbour) had 8 points; both were named the McDonald’s Player of the Game. 

Manitoba 45 British Columbia (Red) 35

Team BC Red and the Manitoba girls continued the action today with Manitoba winning their first game in round robin play 45-35.  The first half was a high paced and closely matched game with Manitoba edging out BC Red after losing the first quarter 12-15 and winning the half 21-17.

McDonald’s Player of the Game guard Taneesha Greaves (Winnipeg) played tough defence and aggressive offence, helping Manitoba in building their lead to 32-23 at the end of the third quarter.  Greaves had 12 points alongside guard Jenilyn Monton (Headingley) who followed with 11 points for the win.  Team BC Red’s Player of the Game was forward Megan Sherwood (Port Coquitlam) with 4 points. 

Newfoundland 36 Saskatchewan 58

At times the game was a nail-biter, but in the end Saskatchewan was able to defeat Newfoundland 58-36.  Saskatchewan took the lead early on, but Newfoundland didn’t let the prairie province pull out of reach.  At the end of the first quarter, Saskatchewan was ahead 13-9.  At half time Newfoundland found themselves down 26-17.

However, the maritime region still refused to go away.  Newfoundland inched to within one point in the third quarter and at the end of the frame, the score was 37-33 for Saskatchewan.  The game finally took a turn when Saskatchewan started off the fourth quarter with a 14-0 run — and they never looked back.  Saskatchewan guard Desarae Hogberg (Regina) led all scorers with 15 points.  Wing Sydney Ezekial (St. John’s) tallied 12 points to lead the way for Newfoundland.  Forward Charlotte Kot (Regina) was tough on the boards as she scooped up 11 rebounds for Saskatchewan.  Post Rosemary Stanoev (St. John’s) also gathered 11 rebounds for Newfoundland.  The McDonald’s Players of the Game for Saskatchewan and Newfoundland were Hogberg and post Jessica Powell (Goulds), respectively. 

Nova Scotia 35 Ontario 91

Visiting team Ontario beat home Nova Scotia in their final game of the day 35-91.  Ontario, coming off a win earlier in the day, dominated the first quarter, creating a thirty-point spread 6-36 going into the second.  Guard Dakota Whyte (Ajax) and guard Katelyn Carriere (London) showed great leadership abilities for the Ontario team and were able to find numerous opportunities to beat Nova Scotia’s defence in the first half to help create an 11-54 lead.

Ontario continued to push and went into the fourth with a 22-75 advantage.  Due to a strong performance by forward Cheyanne Roger (Markham), Ontario was able to maintain their lead until the end of the game.  The McDonald’s Players of the Game were Roger for Ontario and Jalynn Skeir (Halifax) for Nova Scotia. 

Saskatchewan 38 Manitoba 58

The final game of day one ended with a victory for Manitoba over Saskatchewan 58-38.  Home team Manitoba pulled away early in the first quarter and ended with a 23-5 lead going into the second.  Saskatchewan fought back hard with a series of strong defensive plays at the beginning of the quarter but came up short as Manitoba was able to find shots and continue to win the half 35-15. 

At the buzzer, Manitoba guard Megan Noonan (Winnipeg) was able to nail a three point shot to help secure their lead, making the score 45-19 at the end of the third quarter.  Manitoba continued to push and finished strong despite Saskatchewan’s best efforts.  The McDonald’s Players of the Game were Manitoba’s Kerri Kuzbyt (Winnipeg) with 10 points and Saskatchewan’s Charlotte Kot (Regina) with 8 points. 

BOYS:

Ontario 124 Alberta 50

Ontario sent a message that they may be the team to beat after a 124-50 win over Alberta.  Ontario began the game by jumping out to a quick 12-0 lead. They carried the momentum and led the match 32-14 at the end of the first quarter.  Ontario increased their dominance in the second quarter and widened their lead to 64-26. 

The second half started the exact same way the game began: with a 12-0 run for Ontario. The boys from out east refused to ease off the gas pedal at any point in the game.  Forward Adam Djukic (Toronto) was the high scorer for Ontario with a game-high 24 points.  Djukic shot an astounding 83 per cent from behind the three-point arc.  Meanwhile, forward Agunwa Okolie (Ajax) had seven rebounds for Ontario.  The Alberta squad was led by guard Cooper Hamaliuk (Cochrane) who netted 15 points.  Post Connor Foreman (Camrose) earned a game-high 11 rebounds for the blue and orange.  The McDonald’s Player of the Game honours went to Ontario forward Donnele Munda (Pickering) and Foreman of Alberta. 

British Columbia (Blue) 68 Saskatchewan 56

The BC Blue boys began the tournament with a 68-56 win over Saskatchewan.  BC Blue put up a 12 point spread to end the first quarter, leaving the score at 21-9.  Guard Mitch Goodwin (Armstrong), with 11 points in the first quarter, showed strong offensive skills in aiding the BC team to a 36-16 lead. 

Despite a strong effort by Saskatchewan, BC Blue maintained their lead with a score of 52-37 going into the fourth quarter.  Team Saskatchewan fought back in the fourth and narrowed the 20 point lead to 11 with a minute left on the clock, but BC Blue held on.  The McDonald’s Players of the Game were BC Blue’s Braxston Bunce (Kelowna), who was tough on the boards and added 19 points, and Saskatchewan’s guard Daniel Ostertag (Saskatoon), who had a strong game with 18 points.

Nova Scotia 69 British Columbia (Red) 75

Team Nova Scotia fell to BC Red 69-75 in their opening game of the tournament.  Nova Scotia took the early lead, finishing the first quarter 15-12.  With only a few minutes left on the clock in the second quarter, center Cameron Smythe (Vancouver) shot and made an inbounding play and forward Allan Wu (Burnaby) made an impressive lay-up to bring BC up 29-32.  With two seconds left in the first half, Nova Scotia’s JJ Wilson (Dartmouth) released a huge three point shot to tie the game 32-32 at the buzzer. 

The game was much the same in the second half with a constant change in leader.  The third quarter ended with a shot at the buzzer by Nova Scotia’s forward Lorenzo Parker (New Minas), tying the game at 52-52.  The fourth quarter continued to be close but ended with BC Red taking the lead with 12 seconds left on the clock and holding on.  The McDonald’s Players of the Game were BC Red’s Smythe and Nova Scotia’s Parker. 

Newfoundland 68 Manitoba 90

Manitoba started off the championship exactly how they wanted to: with a big win.  Manitoba defeated Newfoundland by a score of 90-68.  The victory may prove extremely important as it seems that Pool B on the boys’ side of the draw may be the most closely matched group in the tournament.  Manitoba jumped out of the gate and took a 25-15 first quarter lead.  Manitoba continued to expand the gap and at halftime their lead was up to 43-30.  

Newfoundland came out in the second half determined to narrow the 13 point deficit, but the blazing Manitoba offence made it difficult for the squad to gain any ground.  With five minutes left in the game, Newfoundland’s hope of an opening round victory faded as they found themselves down 73-56.  Manitoba’s point leader was guard Tyree Gordon (Winnipeg).  Gordon led all scorers with 17 points.  Meanwhile, forward Kristjan Lamont (Winnipeg) was the rebound leader for the winning squad with 10.  Wing Tyler Butler (St. John’s) topped the score sheet for Newfoundland with 15 points.  Post Adam Keatings (Mount Pearl) gathered 10 rebounds for Newfoundland.  Lamont took home the McDonald’s Player of the Game decision for Manitoba, while wing Gary Neville (St. Mary’s Bay) was the recipient for Newfoundland.

Saskatchewan 67 Ontario 107

Ontario improved their record to 2-0 after knocking off Saskatchewan 107-67.  The loss drops Saskatchewan’s tournament record to 0-2.  Ontario didn’t delay in developing an early lead, but Saskatchewan refused to let Ontario run away with the game.  At the end of the first quarter, the score was 31-25 for the eastern province.  In the second quarter, Ontario stepped up their game by holding Saskatchewan to only 12 points.  Guard Duane Notice (Woodbridge) added some flair with a fast-break dunk to help build his team’s lead.  Ontario led 65-37 at the half.

Ontario continued to roll through the third quarter, leading 91-58 at the break.  Notice led Ontario in most categories.  He netted 25 points, gathered nine rebounds, and shot 53 per cent from the field in the win.  Saskatchewan was led by guard Xavier Kosolofski (Regina) who also had 25 points.  Forward Tyson Leibel (Saskatoon) had a team-high seven rebounds for Saskatchewan.  The McDonald’s Player of the Game honours went to Notice of Ontario and Kosolofski of Saskatchewan.

Manitoba 89 Nova Scotia 79

During a game where the scoreboard usually indicated a tie, Manitoba was able to push ahead and defeat Nova Scotia 89-79.  The result brings Manitoba’s record to 2-0 and Nova Scotia’s to 0-2.  Nova Scotia took an early lead but Manitoba chipped away and eventually tied the game to end the first quarter at 25-25.  In the second quarter the match continued to go back and forth, but at halftime the teams remained deadlocked at 45-45. 

Midway through the third quarter Manitoba took the lead and at the intermission the score was 74-64.  Nova Scotia made a late surge in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough.  Forward Kristjan Lamont (Winnipeg) led Manitoba with 20 points and 16 rebounds.  Guard AJ Simmonds (Dartmouth) was the top scorer for Nova Scotia with 27 points.  Simmonds shot 50 per cent from behind the three point arc.  Forward Lorenzo Parker (New Minas) grabbed eight rebounds for Nova Scotia.  Simmonds and guard Patrick Mart (Winnipeg) were the McDonald’s Players of the Game.

(with information from TRU Athletics)
(photo from Vision Quest - visionquest1@shaw.ca)