Submitted by:
Lise Fraser |
Swan Valley Tigers advanced to the AAA JV Girls Provincials on March 10-12, 2016 in Virden Manitoba by winning their zone and inter zone games over Dauphin and Virden.
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The Tigers were ranked 5th in the province heading into Provincials. First game for the Tigers was against the 4th ranked team, Thompson. This was the third time the teams would meet with Thompson winning the first two games. The game was intense as both teams wanted to advance to the Championship side of the draw. By the end of the 3rd quarter, Thompson was up by 12 points as the Tigers hadn’t found their scoring touch yet. The Tigers switched to a man to man defence with a full court press creating multiple turnovers and in the last quarter the Tigers scored 20 points to overtake Thompson. Akira Lunding scored 11 points and had 11 steals. Brenna Klatt and Siscely Konkin contributed 7 points apiece. Alison Rowe had a steal and a defensive rebound late in the game which kept Thompson from scoring.
The Player of the Game for the Tigers was Erica Forsyth.
The Tigers faced a tough opponent in the semi-final, #1 ranked Westgate Wings. Both teams employed an effective press limiting shots in the first two quarters. By the end of the half, the score was 24-18 in favour of Westgate. Westgate stretched their lead to 10 by the 3rd quarter. The Tigers wouldn’t give up though and pressed back out scoring the Wings in the 4th quarter but couldn’t make up the deficit, losing 47-40. Erica Forsyth scored 15 pts, Brittany Vandepoele added 10 pts, Julia Arp scored 5 pts, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. Angel McNichol had an assist to Brenna Klatt for a key basket.
Brittany Vandepoele was named the Player of the Game for the Tigers.
The Tigers played Stonewall Rams for the Bronze Medal Game on Saturday at 12:00. The Tigers jumped out to an early lead but the Rams were not deterred. They came back and tied the game in the fourth quarter at 31-31. The lead went back and forth for the last two minutes. Akira Lunding drove for the basket in the final 20 seconds with the score 47-46 for the Tigers. Lunding was fouled and sank the first foul shot putting the Tigers up by two. The Rams called a time out, ran a possible three point play that hit the rim. The Tigers attacked the boards, coming up with the rebound and the win. Erica Forsyth scored 16 points for the Tigers, Akira Lunding added 14 and the Game Star, Zoe Winters sank 9 points to lead the offence for the Tigers. Defensively, Siscely Konkin lead the Tigers with 10 rebounds and 5 points
Sydney Fleming came up with key rebounds in the fourth quarter to keep the Rams from scoring.
The JV Girls won the Bronze Medal at the AAA JV Girls Basketball Provincial Championships which is the first medal that a JV Girls team has won at Basketball Provincials.
