The senior girls' basketball team defeated the West Van Highlanders 52-23 last night to sweep the season series against their local rival. The Cavs seem to be humming along very nicely since their return from Europe. Here is Coach McLaughlin's game report:
Tonight, we faced off against the West Van Highlanders in the final game of their home season, so it was their Seniors Night. Coach Dignum for West Van presented his girls with lovely tokens of appreciation to his six seniors for their contributions to the West Van Basketball program.
Since last meeting West Van before Christmas, the Highlanders added several new players to their roster, significantly expanding the depth of their bench. The Cavs line-up was also a little different this evening, as starting forward Nikki Sutton MacGregor was on the injured list. Stepping up to the starting line-up was Hazel Atkins who has made a triumphant return to the basketball court after a year away, bringing her "mad hops" to the team to rip down rebounds and power through to put-backs.
The game started well for the Cavs as they mixed up their defence and worked the ball around well to connect on good looks at the hoop. Tiana Wong started the Cavs off right, netting 3 of the Cav's first four hoops. Throughout the game, the Cavs demonstrated a great deal of poise and patience, moving the ball well, and getting West Van's zone to loosen up to get the ball inside. Starting the 2nd quarter off with a 12-2 advantage, the Cavs looked to expand their lead with a few tweaks to their defence and switches to the line-ups. Things worked well for the Cavs as they took a 26-9 score into half.
In the second half, the Cavs experimented with a new defence - a credit to the girls' basketball IQ to adjust to something new so quickly. It was a great combo of intense defence and patient offence throughout the third quarter that enabled the Cavs to push the score to 34-14.
In the final frame of the game, all Lady Cavs had ample opportunities to rack up some stats, and it was fantastic to see all the players getting good looks at the hoop and taking advantage of their court time. Star of the game has to go to Suha Cho who hit her first three-pointer of her career, and then followed it up minutes later with ANOTHER three! Suha finished the game with her season high of 8 points, all coming in the fourth quarter. At the final buzzer, the Cavs left the court victorious with a 52-23 victory.
Tiana Wong had another stellar performance, almost reaching her second triple-double of the season, finishing with 8 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, and 9 steals. Kayleigh Garland was also a beast, coming right from her Junior team game to play with the Seniors - she finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. (C. Campbell 6 pts. 4 rb. 2 stl., B. Campbell 2 pts. 2 stls., J. Kelly 3pts. 5 rbs. 1 stl., I. Gaglardi-Kreider 6pts. 2 rbs. 1 stl., T. Wong 8 pts. 9 rbs. 8 ast. 9 stls., A. Finnie 6pts. 2 rbs. 1 stl., S. Narwal 1pt. 6 rbs. , K. Garland 14 pts. 10 rbs., S. Cho 8pts. 2rbs. 1 stl., H. Atkins 6 rbs.)
The Cavs are in action all weekend with the Cav Classic Tournament - facing off against Clayton Heights at 11:45 on Thursday. Season play continues next Wednesday, January 25th, when Collingwood plays Bodwell in the McCord Gym at 7:30 pm.
Tiana Wong delivers another of her pin-point passes in yesterday's big win.
Charlotte Campbell looks to feed the ball inside against the Highlander's defence.