Saints upsizing in bid to get over the top
It’s a whole different game for the St. Clair Saints women’s basketball team.
The Saints have won back-toback OCAA silver medals with a roster that often saw head coach Andy Kiss deploy five guards on the floor.
On Wednesday, the Saints upped their game again as 6-foot-2 centre Jessica Paolini signed on for the team for the 2020-21 season. The addition comes less than two weeks after the Saints added 5-foot-11 guard/forward Gabrielle ‘Gabi’ Whiteye.
“One of the weaknesses of playing five guards is the three-point shot is fool’s gold,” Kiss said. “When that well ran dry for us in the third quarter (of the OCAA final), we weren’t able to manufacture a basketball in the paint. We stayed a little too much on the perimeter.
“With a bona fide 6-foot-2 and Gabi at 5-foot-11, we’ve added some length. I think we can run a set play inside and orchestrate buckets inside, which we need to do.”
Kiss has been after Paolini, who is from Stoney Creek, for the past two seasons.
“Andy was communicating through my dad last summer and wanted me to come down and play this past season, but I wasn’t sure what school I wanted to go to,” the 19-year-old Paolini said. “I didn’t want to rush in.”
Paolini helped Cardinal Newman high school win back-to-back OFSAA girls’ AAA basketball silver medals in 2017 and 2018 and also played JUEL basketball with Hamilton Blessed Sacrament.
“I was looking at (the University of ) Waterloo and University of Toronto-mississauga, but I just felt St. Clair was the best fit,” Paolini said. “They have the vet tech program I want and it’s kind of perfect.”
After coming so close to the gold medal at the OCAA championship, Kiss is hoping Paolini is another piece that can help put the Saints over the top.
“Everything is earned, so it has to be earned, but a 6-foot-2 post is elite and not many teams have one in the OCAA,” Kiss said. “We’re going to look different now.
“With consecutive silvers, there’s a thirst and a hunger to make that last step up the ladder. We’re excited and happy with our recruiting class and I think we’re a gold medal contender next year.”