Defence doesn’t rest
Cold-shooting Notre Dame keeps Churchill off the scoreboard with defence, rebounding
A hot hand from the free-throw line overcame cold shooting from the floor when Notre Dame played Sir Winston Churchill for the gold medal at the 14th Tribune Girls Basketball Tournament.
The Fighting Irish returned to the winners circle at the south Niagara high school showcase after a one-year absence despite shooting a combined 15-of-54 from the floor and beyond the three-point arc in a 51-38 victory over the Bulldogs.
In addition to making 75 per cent of their foul shots, 15-of-20, No. 1 seed Notre Dame out-rebounded the third-seeded Churchill, especially on offence.
Head Vince Barbatano, whose team improved to 23-2 with Saturday night’s win at Jean Vanier in Welland, wasn’t the least bit surprised with the shooting statistics. He pointed out Notre Dame also had more misses than hits the night before in a hard-fought 51-41 victory over defending champion Jean Vanier in the semifinals.
“The last two days we didn’t shoot the ball well,” he said. “Usually, we shoot a lot better, and that allows us to pull away in games.
Lucky for the Irish, offence isn’t the only thing in the resilient team’s toolbox. “The last two days we had to rely on our defence, and figure a way to score, basically,” Barbatano said. “We try to focus on defence, and we allow our defence and press to get our offence going.”
The coach is among the team’s biggest boosters. He doesn’t compound the frustration of shooting struggles by focusing on the misses.
“If they are missing, like they have been, I keep telling them, ‘Make the next one.’
“That’s what I have been trying to get into their heads to keep their confidence up.”
Most valuable player honours at the four-day, 16-team tournament went to Maddie Picton, one of three players from Notre Dame selected to the first all-star team.
She scored four three-pointers and went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe to finish the game with 15 points.
A Grade 10 student playing in her first Tribune Tournament, Picton hailed the win in the goldmedal game a team victory.
“I wasn’t shooting the best today, but we worked as a unit and got back on defence and worked together to get to our goal.
Churchill head caoch Frank Keltos said Notre Dame’s success grabbing their own rebounds was a factor in his team’s only loss of the tournament.
“They score about eight or 10 points on second-chance points for us to down four at the half,” he said. “I said if we could just clean up the defensive glass we should be OK.
“And we just couldn’t hit any shots. It happens.”
The Bulldogs shot a combined 20-of-52 from the floor and made nine of 16 attempts from the freethrow line.
Despite the setback, Churchill, which lost to Saint Paul in the consolation final at last year’s tournament, can take a lot of positives from the experience of playing must-win games.
“At one point we had three Grade 9s and two Grade 10s (on the floor) so our future looks pretty awesome.
“Every game is a learning experience, so it’s a win, it’s a win.”
Churchill was hoping to become only the second team from St. Catharines to win the Tribune Tournament championship and first since St. Francis won it all in 2012.
Chloe Peters and fellow firstteam all-star Jameria Rousseau collected 15 and 10 points, respectively, for Notre Dame.
Janee Harrison’s 15 points was the team high for the Bulldogs.
Rounding out the first-all star team were Kaley DeMont and Natalie Weber, both from Churchill; while second-team honours went to Andrea Hebert, Vanier; Judy Manlow, Saint Michael; Mackenzie Schroeder, Eden; Ally Sentance, Churchill; and Maddi Wilcox, Lakeshore Catholic.
Rousseau received the Heart and Hustle Award. Alex Hebert, Vanier; was recognized as top defensive player and Eden won the award for most sportsmanlike team.
Several Notre Dame players dyed parts of their hair blue to match the colour of their uniforms, while the hairstyle of choice for the Bulldogs was French braids.
Vanier, coincidentally a Frenchlanguage high school, was hosting the finals of the four-day, 16-year tournament for the second year in a row. Last year the Lynx, making the most of home-court advantage, edged Notre Dame by two points to become the first single A school to win the overall championship at the south Niagara showcase.
Notre Dame and Churchill both took 3-0 records into the nightcap of Saturday’s championship doubleheader. Notre Dame beat Governor Simcoe, 53-24; Denis Morris, 65-30; and Jean Vanier, 51-41; and victories over E.L. Crossley, 61-46; Welland Centennial, 49-36; and Eden, 51-37; earned Churchill a shot at the gold medal.
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Scholarship awards
The presentation of Tribune Tournament scholarships totalling $4,500 highlighted off-thecourt activities at Saturday night’s championship basketball doubleheader at Jean Vanier in Welland. Recipients all played in at least one Tribune Girls Basketball Tournament before graduating high school. Each scholarship is worth $500. Following are the 2017 recipients: Madison Bell: Denis Morris, currently enrolled in medical sciences program at Brock University; Lauren Dempsey: Saint Paul, majoring in life sciences, McMaster University; Natasha Desjardins: Jean Vanier, studying fitness and health promotion at Niagara College; Lauren Frasca: Notre Dame, fitness and health promotion, Niagara College; Maddy Gojmerac: Notre Dame, history, Ryerson University; Victoria Klauck: Lakeshore Catholic, nursing, Brock University; Sencia Lampman: Port Colborne, child and youth care, Georgian College, Orillia campus; Sophie Pauls: E.L. Crossley, nursing, Western University; Miranda Smith: Notre Dame, medical sciences, Brock University. Scholarships are funded from proceeds from admission and program advertising.
channel for Cogeco cable subscribers in Niagara, will rebroadcast the games Thursday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 12:30 p.m.; and Sunday, 1:30 p.m.; on channels 10 and 700, high-definition.
This was the 14th tournament since the inception of the competition in January 2005, and Notre Dame has made it to a final all but once. Three years ago Centennial beat St. Francis in the championship game with Port High defeating Ridgeway-Crystal Beach for the bronze medal.
If they are missing, like they have been, I keep telling them, ‘Make the next one.’” Notre Dame senior girls basketball head coach Vince Barbatano