Ava Bickell plays special assistant as WCI senior girls advance to TVRA semis

Woodstock CI Red Devil junior Jillian Trepanier looks to move the ball against Tillsonburg Glendale’s Sophia Monsere during a 38-18 TVRA Southeast quarter-final victory on Thursday, Oct. 30. (Jeff Tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Echo Correspondent

Ava Bickell ‘assisted’ the Woodstock CI Red Devils senior girls’ basketball ‘transition’ from too-close-for-comfort to back in control with both a plan A and plan B approach.

Her first assist came with 5:42 remaining in the fourth quarter of a 49-26 Thames Valley Regional Athletics Southeast AA quarter-final playoff victory over the Woodstock St. Mary’s Warriors.

Bickell’s long, leading and planned pass found teammate Mikka Runstedler in full stride. Under serious defensive pressure, she had barely enough time to catch and immediately bank the ball off the backboard and through the hoop, momentum carrying her under the WCI Devildome’s mezzanine.

“I kind of just forget about the wall and kind of just stare at the ball,” said Runstedler of the bang-bang play. ‘It has to go.”

Bickell’s second assist came 23 seconds later with Runstedler following the former’s missed high-speed fast-break layup attempt.

“It was a pass, a pass,” smiled Runstedler, her putback extending the Red Devils lead back into double digits (37-26) to answer a determined Warriors’ run.

“Yeah, a little stressful in the third,” agreed WCI coach Jason Poole. The Warriors had their backs against the wall after an 18-5 Red Devils advantage through the second period, sparked said Poole by Eden Fraser. WCI broke open a tight 8-7 first-quarter lead, appearing to have the game in hand.

“They didn’t give up,” he added.

Aliyah Anthony led St. Mary’s 12-7 third-quarter charge with five points, including one of two three-point field goals.

“Around like the second quarter, we picked up our defence,” said Anthony. “We were getting some steals, our passes were better, and our shots were better too.”

An early fourth-quarter basket lifted the Warriors back within striking distance at 33-26.

The Bickell-Runstedler four-point burst signalled the unofficial beginning of the end; however, the Red Devils locked up the win with transitional hoops off of predatory defensive pressure atop a two-three zone.

“That’s where our opportunities come,” said Poole, pleased to see his girls overcome a challenge with the resiliency to get the job done. “We want to go into semis with that confidence and that focus.”

Twelve unanswered points, including a carefully paced Bickell layup, rounded the final.

“It wasn’t only one, I missed a bunch,” she confessed. “So, on the last one, I had to make it.”

She netted five points, Lilli Taylor had four, Avril Craven and Kate Hooker six apiece, Runstedler eight and Dakota Thomson 10. Oriana Belmonte had a field goal for the Warriors, M. Blain five points, Leyah Anthony seven and her twin sister Aliyah 12.

“Just kind of sad to see the season is over,” said the latter.

“They kind of ran away with it at the end there,” said Warriors coach Shayne Simpson, noting fatigue had been a factor after depending on his starters through the comeback. “I think we just got tired.”

Overall, he was pleased with a great season in which many girls new to basketball worked hard and showed significant improvement.

“We weren’t expected to do as well as we did.”

With the victory, the Red Devils earned a TVRA semi-final berth against the St. Thomas St. Joe’s Warriors, a game scheduled to tip off Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 3 p.m. at St. Joe’s. The Woodstock College Avenue Knights will be on the court of the other Southeast semi, at the same time in St. Thomas Parkside, against the undefeated 8-0 Stampeders. The Knights downed Aylmer East Elgin 33-25 on the road in their quarter-final outing.

TVRA JUNIOR PLAYOFFS

The Woodstock CI junior Red Devils downed visiting Tillsonburg Glendale Gemini by a comfortable 38-18 margin Thur., Oct. 30. With the win, WCI was scheduled to host East Elgin for a semi-final on Tuesday, Nov. 4, beginning at 3 p.m. Parkside and St. Joe’s will meet in the other semi-final.

TVRA JUNIOR GIRLS

Quarterfinals

Thursday, Oct. 30

Parkside 39, Ingersoll DCI 19

St. Joe’s 43, St. Mary’s 23

WCI 38, Glendale 18

Preliminary Round

Tuesday, Oct. 28

Ingersoll DCI 28, Woodstock Huron Park 10

St. Mary’s 26, CASS 18

Glendale 41, St. Thomas Central Elgin 28

Tuesday, Oct. 21

Lord Dorchester 35, CASS 15

St. Joe’s 39, St. Mary’s 19

East Elgin 34, IDCI 23

Parkside 28, Huron Park 8

TVRA SENIOR GIRLS

Quarterfinals

Woodstock College Avenue 33, East Elgin 25

Parkside 38, Huron Park 18

WCI 49, St. Mary’s 26

Preliminary Round

Huron Park 49, IDCI 29

St. Mary’s 51, Central Elgin 32

Tuesday, Oct. 21

East Elgin 31, Ingersoll 11

College Ave. 37, Dorchester 17

Parkside 35, Huron Park 15

St. Joe’s 33, St. Mary’s 24