Saints whip Lions in semis
[attach]1009[/attach]Richview Saints sights are set on OFSAA.
At the start of the season, head coach Vic Simkus and his team laid down a road map for the 2009 senior girls basketball season.
When they were finished all roads led to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships.
“Our goal all season long has been to make it to OFSAA and this gets us one step closer,” said Simkus.
The Saints took that step Nov. 17 after a lopsided 66-16 victory over Stephen Leacock Lions.
Richview was in driver’s seat from the outset. They were able to score easily early, when they worked the ball into the low post.
As the game went on, Saints used their skill and patience to work the ball around the perimeter waiting for a shot to open up.
“Our offence and defence is very well balanced,” Simkus said. “We had three girls get into double figures, so we try to explore every venue that we can and if that means going into the low post initially then we will feed the ball there all the time.”
When the Saints went up by 26 points after the first half, leading 34-8, Simkus wanted the girls to slow down.
“In an effort to maintain as much respect for the game as possible, we tried to incorporate an offence and defence that still presents a challenge to the players,” he says. “However, we would much rather pass first than shoot when it comes to a lopsided game.”
Despite the large margin, Simkus was wary of the unpredictability of basketball.
“We’ve been taking it one game at a time and nothing has been guaranteed in this league,” he said.
Alexa Bennett led the Saints with 16 points, while both Ashley Hutson and Daina Simkus scored 14 points. Jackie Siemon chipped in an additional eight.
The Lions head coach Ruby Lee gave credit to the Saints.
“They were really beating us rebounding both offensively and defensively,” she says. “In the second half we did a little better, but because they were so big they just wore us down as the game went on.”
The most points the Saints allowed in a quarter was five and in the fourth quarter they only allowed one three-pointer from the Lions top scorer Monica De Jesus, who had six in a losing cause.
“We pride ourselves on defence,” said Simkus. “We have one of the lowest points-per-game totals in the west and we took very few fouls which is something we are proud of. All this was accomplished with big heart and big hustle.”
Richview faced Downsview SS in the City Championship Nov. 19 at the University of Toronto.
Unfortunately, they came out on the losing end 58-48 in a tight match. Daina Simkus scored 16 points for the Saints.
