U14s final OBL weekend

This past weekend saw the U14 girls compete in their final OBL weekend before heading off to play in the Ontario Cup finals in Niagara Falls on April 29th/30th.

As expected following a long lay-off over March, the girls came out a little slow and sluggish in their first game versus Vaughan City. Turn-overs on offense and team defense led to a low scoring game, however the defensive intensity picked up late in the game enough to capture the win.
In the second game of the day, the lady Spirits faced off for the 3rd time against the Orangeville Hawks, with the tiebreaker on the line.  In this high scoring game, the girls picked up their intensity on individual and team defense, often times frustrating the Hawks into forced shots and turnovers.  Offensively, the girls faced yet another common 2-3 zone, however with much improved outside shooting and ball movement, the Hawks were forced to change-up their defense  but it didn’t seem to matter, as the Spirits walked away with a hard fought 44-38 W.
Through hard work and dedication, the u14’s end the OBL regular season with an impressive 10-2 record.  The girls would like to thank their sponsors for their financial support throughout the season.

U14’s go 3-1 in OBL weekend #4

The u14’s hit the hardwood this past weekend, following a lengthy three week layoff from games. With an impressive record of 5-1 (tied for first place), prior to the OBL break, the girls moved up a pool in their division with 5 other teams.
Their first game was against the Orangeville Hawks, a team they beat earlier in the season, however after a sluggish start and some missed scoring opportunities, they were on the losing end of a 43-28 score.
Showing strong resilience, teamwork and overall effort, the u14’s went on to win the next three games of the weekend, one of which was against the top seeded North York Lions who they lost to earlier in the season.
Both individual and team defense, ball movement and passing, shooting and free-throws were all keys in the successful weekend.
With a potential tri-meet for the end of March and two OBL games in April, the girls will be travelling to Niagara Falls to compete in the year end Ontario Cup.
The team has an overall record of 8-2 in league play and 14-5 overall!
Great work ladies!

U14 Belleville Spirits golden in Orleans

By BROCK ORMOND, from InQuinte.ca

The U14 Belleville Spirits basketball team took the mantle of ‘golden girls’ on the weekend.

The Spirits clinched the Division 3 gold medal at the Mike O’Connor Memorial Tournament in Orleans (near Ottawa) on Sunday with a 35-14 victory over the Kanata Selects.

That win capped off a 4-0 weekend for the Spirits after they defeated a pair of teams from Nepean by scores of 40-20 and 63-18 and knocked off a Brockville Blazers squad 36-19 to book their ticket to the Gold Medal game.

Team members are as follows: #3 Scarlet Clarke, #4 Madilyn Whiten, #5 Alexa Drumm, #6 Logan Potts, #10 Sofia Edgett, #11 Hadley Rozema, #20 Whitney Milne, #25 Paige McGrath, #33 Rylee Baldini-Lazier, #40 Tess Shakell, #42 Julia Smith

Head Coach- Darrell McGrath, Assistant Coaches- Darrell Edgett, Justin Shakell, Manager- Sara Rozema

Visit the Spirits website or Facebook page to keep track of the organization through the rest of the season.

 

  

Another successful OBL weekend for U14s

The U14 Spirit girls had another successful OBL weekend playing in Toronto, with two solid wins.

Their first game was versus first place Orangeville Hawks where the girls stepped up their defence in the second half and distributed the ball well on offence to finish with a 39-28 win. Whitney Milne lead all scorers with a career high 16 points, Sofia Edgett scoring 7, Julia Smith and Scarlet Clarke contributing 6 points each.

The girls came out firing on all cylinders versus Brampton Breakdown winning 45-11. Strong team effort from all girls on both ends of the floor. Paige McGrath lead the way with a career high 18 points and Sofia Edgett with 14 points. Other scorers were Riley Baldini with 4 and Whitney Milne with 9.

The team is off to Ottawa next weekend to play in the @gcbawolverines Mike O’Connor Memorial Tournament.

 

Mike O’Connor Tournament – Bantam Win Bronze

The Mike O’Connor Memorial Tournament is held in Ottawa every February to honor the late Mike O’Connor. The weekend is about bringing basketball clubs together to celebrate basketball and to continue developing skills. This year 87 teams took part!

The Spirits Atom (U12 – McGrath) and Bantam (U14 – Palleschi) teams were part of the tournament and played some competitive ball.

Congratulations to all players for their efforts in games and in the skills competitions.

A special shout out to the Bantam girls who brought home the bronze!!

 

U14 OBL Pool B Champions

The Spirits finished the regular season with a 22-9 overall record, 10-2 in OBL pool B. The girls accepted the challenge of playing some of the top teams in the province and are a better team now for it. Looking forward to competing at the Ontario Cup.