Journal Staff
Last week saw the Mallaig Stingers girls team and Ashmont Falcons boys team win this year's St. Paul Athletics Association banners, following some tough competition.
Boys
It was an intense battle, but the Ashmont Falcons pushed hard to the very end, winning this year's SPAA senior high boys’ basketball banner on Feb. 26.
Heading into the game, the Falcons earned home court advantage, making the win that much more sweet as they welcomed the St. Paul Regional High School JV Saints to their school.
The game was close, with the Falcons leading throughout much of the play, and the Saints inching to within four points at one point. But, with just a minute left in the fourth quarter, a 10-point lead would secure the win for the Falcons.
The game would end with a score of 68-58.
Matt Weinmeier coached the Falcons throughout the 2019/20 season.
“I’m very proud of these boys. They worked their butts off,” said Weinmeier.
He acknowledged that Wednesday night’s game was very intense, and he had predicted it would be a tough game. He gave credit to the Saints for their efforts and thanked them for a good game.
“We played our defense the whole time. All season, our number one goal has been to play the best defense we can,”said Weinmeier when asked what he felt helped the Falcons secure the win.
Weinmeier also gave credit to his Grade 12 point guard, Gabe Jackson, for his hand in the win.
“I’m so proud of him,” said the coach.
This year’s team is made up of primarily Ashmont School students, along with one Mallaig School athlete.
Weinmier noted that another key to the team’s success was their dedication to practice.
“We run. Every practice they run their butts off. They were there for every practice and it showed today.”
Basketball zones will be taking place on March 13 and 14. Ashmont School competes in the 2A category.
Girls
The Mallaig Stingers defeated the Saddle Lake Chargers to claim their second consecutive St. Paul Athletics Association’s (SPAA) championship banner after defeating the Saddle Lake Chargers 47-41 on Wednesday evening.
The game, played at the Kihew Asiniy Education Centre on Feb. 26, had a lot of supporters rooting for the Chargers, who at one point had a nine-point lead in the game. The Chargers have had an undefeated season throughout the year, according to coach Brendalee Cardinal.
“My girls have worked so hard…and my girls have stuck it through and I’m really proud of them,” Cardinal said.
Despite falling behind, the Stingers managed to collect back-to-back points in the last few moments of the game to take the lead and eventually win.
“I just asked the girls if they were having fun and they said no,” Stingers head coach Adele Dechaine said. “And I said, ‘Well let’s start having fun!’”
“The team really stepped it up and managed to pull it out. Saddle Lake went the whole year undefeated, so they played amazingly well.”
