SPAA junior basketball playoffs concluded last week with Ashmont claiming the boys banner and Racette taking home the girls banner.
The Racette girls team hosted Glen Avon at their gym last Thursday for the finals, which saw Racette jump to a 18-11 lead through the first half before Glen Avon managed to fight back into the game.
Glen Avon continued to battle, and managed to close the gap at 30-30 with two important free throws late in the game to force overtime, but Racette was not ready to let the banner slip away.
Racette regrouped and managed to take advantage of Glen Avon thanks to an abundance of fouls and claimed a 44-32 overtime victory to take home the banner.
“These girls, you could tell they wanted it in the end,” said Racette girls coach Kathleen Gerlinsky. “To our benefit we were able to foul out some of their stronger players and that just benefited us going into overtime.”
Gerlinsky said the team found so much success on the court this season because they were willing and able to adapt to varying responsibilities.
“They work well as a team. We’ve changed our whole system this year and they’re so adaptable,” she said. “Everybody takes their role very responsibly.”
Glen Avon girls coach Patti Krekoski said she was proud of the way her team fought back into the game, and applauded the rivalry between the two schools.
“It’s a great rivalry both ways,” said Krekoski. “We just got into a bit of foul trouble and had a few starters out but some of the Grade 7s that came on late really showed that we’ll be a great time next year.”
The girls final marked the last-ever competitive basketball game to be played in the Racette 2 gym, and Gerlinsky noted she is excited to move on to a new court.
“It’ll be a lot nicer when we win it at the other school for their first game back,” she said.
The boys final saw the Ashmont team control the flow of play as hosts of Racette to take a decisive 46-34 win.
Ashmont boys coach Lyndon Suntjens said the team’s goal for this season was to claim the banner, and pointed to three Grade 9 players, Dallas Whitford, Riley Large and Prosper Large as key factors in achieving that goal.
After coaching the boys for three years, it was great to see the progression they made on the court, Suntjens said.
“It was a real pleasure coaching,” said the coaching, who noted that there is a great deal of interested in basketball amongst Ashmont students. “It was another great year of SPAAA basketball.”
