Game recap from Coach Sandro:

The U12 Spirits Girls traveled to Welland to play 4 games to start the 2nd half of the OBL League. We finished 2 and 4 in the 1st half playing in Pool B (just below OBLX).

The pools were re-ranked and the girls earned the right to remain in Pool B with 3 OBLX teams dropping down and 2 teams from the lower pool coming up. Getting to play in a very tough pool was a huge achievement for the girls.

While the kids and parents had a great time overall, staying overnight for the first time together as a team, the games didn’t go as well as we would have liked.

We were down to 10 players and started very slow in Game 1; eventually losing to Peterborough 27-24. Shelby Brant led the scoring with 12 points and player of the game Kyrah Currin scored 10 while also being a force on defense.

We lost 39-7 to a strong Brantford CYO team, but the girls played better than the score indicated. Avery Hayes was player of the game with her aggressiveness on defense.

We were back to 11 players on Sunday and started off well with a 41-26 victory over Stoney Creek. Callie Lyall returned on Sunday and led the scoring with 11 points. Kyrah with 10 and Shelby with 8. Nora Gabourie was Player of the Game with strong effort and intensity at both ends of the court.

We finished with a 54-27 loss to Guelph, although we kept it close in the 1st half only being down 28-20 but got overmatched in the 2nd half.

This game featured something I’ve not seen at any level. With 1.9 seconds left in the 2nd shift, Shelby rolled the ball and Callie picked it up just before center, passed it back to Shelby who hit the 3 just past center. Unfortunately we were about a split second too late. What was even more impressive was the same exact situation near the end of the 4th shift, this time with 2.9 seconds left on the clock. Callie and Shelby teamed up again with a roll down to just before center and a pass back to Shelby who hit the 3 again just past center; this time beating the buzzer. Both teams and coaches and all the fans applauded the feat!

Shelby was player of the game and leading scorer with 13 points. Callie chipped in with 5.

We play Ottawa Next Level (11am) and Gloucester (at 3:30pm) on Sunday Feb 19th at Bayside SS if anyone wants to come and watch.

📸: Kay Ouimette

Posted in OBL, U12

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