DCVI junior girls take playoff quarter-final against Goderich

Aryn Sheldon takes a shot during the DCVI junior girls basketball team’s 35-20 win in their playoff quarter-final against Goderich on Oct. 29. Sheldon had five points in the game.

By Turner Roth

The DCVI Junior Girls Basketball Team took down Goderich in their playoff quarter-final matchup, scoring a strong 35-20 win on Oct. 29.

The game started off slow for St. Marys as Goderich had an 8-6 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Salukis were making some uncharacteristic mistakes, according to head coach Tim O’Connor, but as they increased their defensive pressure, they settled in at both ends of the court.

“I was very happy today with the way we played today,” O’Connor told the Independent. “We were struggling to score at the start of the game, but once we were able to get calm, eventually a couple of buckets started to fall. I was very happy, especially with how we were defensively in the second half.”

O’Connor explained how his team’s strong defensive play allowed the group to steady their game, which in turn led to more successful attempts at the basket on the offensive side of the ball.

“It was man-to-man defence, we weren’t inpatient, and we just didn’t give them much,” said O’Connor. “They didn’t get many second shots as we rebounded pretty well. Eventually, we were calm and took good shots. We were just throwing it up there a few times before, but we eventually got some better looks. We put up 35 points, which I would consider a good day at the office for us.”

The girls found a greater intensity and energy coming out of halftime and proceeded to erupt offensively with relentless attack and movement. On the other side of the court, they held Goderich to only eight points in the remaining two quarters.

Lily Hollestelle-Black led the offensive charge with eight points in the game, while Morgan Reid chipped in six, and Aryn Sheldon had five. Serina Procter, Raegan Stacey and Melody Weber each added four points.

The team scoring 35 points was significant, considering they managed just six in the first quarter. O’Connor noted they didn’t try to make low-percentage plays, which led to more offensive success.

“We weren’t just trying to hit the first cutter, but instead we were working it around and reversing the ball. There was an NBA coach who said, ‘If you reverse the ball once, you get an open shot. If you reverse the ball twice, you get a layup.’ Rather than someone trying to drive through multiple people, instead, you’ve got a ball reversal, a nice attack on the weak side and only one defender to beat. We were a bit more patient, we held onto the ball and I think that tuckered Goderich out a little bit by the end.”