Vipers pull together at Citys
[attach]5216[/attach]OFSAA contenders in Brockville will need to keep the anti-venom handy for when Vaughan Road Vipers come to town.
The Cedarvale-area school booked their ticket to the AA provincials by winning the TDSSAA championship title on Nov. 15, 46-36 over Runnymede Ravens.
It will be the second year in a row coach Wilton Hall makes the trip with his senior girls basketball squad.
“OFSAA’s going to be tough because when we went there last year we finished with a 1-3 record,” he said. “We’re a little better than last year, so we’re looking to improve on that.”
If their bout with the Ravens is any indication, the Vipers are ready for anything.
“Today’s game was kind of scrappy but we know Runnymede very well because we have played them two times in our league,” Hall said, after the Citys. “But the bottom line is that we got the W and we’re moving on to OFSAA.”
Making like the San Antonio Spurs during their 1999 championship campaign, the Vipers are depending on their own Twin Towers.
“It’s our usual two, Sandra Amoah and Aleena Domingo. They score 80 percent of our points,” Hall said. “As they grow, we grow, along with our defence.”
Domingo, who came off a 14-point game with five boards and five steals, transferred from Forest Hill CI in the hopes she could reach OFSAA in her fifth year.
“This is my first time going to OFSAA. I can’t believe it,” she said. “Some people were saying that I can’t play because I just transferred, and I just said, ‘I’m going to play. I’m going to play’.”
One of the strategies displayed in their TDSSAA run was to get their starters to strike first, letting the venom marinate their opponents, and then get their bench to produce.
“There was no hesitation, I wanted to get some of our grade 9s and 10s in the game to give them the Citys experience,” Hall said. “It’s a team sport so everybody contributes.”
Amoah drained 22 points in the Vipers match against Runnymede, adding nine rebounds and four steals.
Other contributors seeking medals in Brockville along with Amoah and Domingo will be Estelle Preiano, Reveé Schultz, Suhama Abukar, Lisa Li, Grace Synch, Brandi Trinh, Mitzi Nieves, Jacqueline Fernandez, Kadijha Lawrence, Ria Perrault, Sydney Saunders-Robertson and Meagan Liu.
