The St. Paul Regional Saints senior girls basketball team walked away with a hard-fought, 52 – 39 victory against their opponents, the Glendon Marquise, during the St. Paul Athletics Association (SPAA) senior girls’ basketball finals last Wednesday.
The game, played at Glendon School, saw both teams playing a highly physical game, with the Saints struggling in the beginning, according to Sasha Lavasseur, one of the four coaches of the team. The team’s three other coaches are Melissa Mahe, Chad Roche and Mona Oszust.
“We struggled a little bit with just playing flat starting in the game … So it’s very nice to see the girls step up and play really hard through all four quarters,” commented Lavasseur after the game, noting that the Saints were beaten by the Marquise in league playoffs the week before.
Oszust also praised the Saints for “playing with their heart” for the four quarters. “They played with a lot of aggression and they shut down some of the Glendon girls who are quite big,” she continued.
A couple of the Saints who shone during the game were Madi Novakowski and Monique Gervais, both Grade 11 students who led the team in points scored for the game.
“We want to thank our four coaches who come to our every game,” commented both girls after the game.
With the team heading to zones competition this upcoming weekend in Lloydminster, Lavasseur commented that the players are “peaking at the right time” – something which Oszust agrees with, saying, “I think we’ll be right in there for zones, that’s for sure.”
“If we can get our girls playing their A game, we should be a really good contender in the tournament.”
Meanwhile, on the boys’ side, the Falcons from Ashmont Secondary School claimed the title of SPAA senior boys’ champions after beating out the Nobles from Glendon School 79 – 61.
The Falcons’ coach, Jorge Silva, commented that the team played well in the tournament and will be playing at the zones 1A tournament at Ashmont School on Friday and Saturday.
“We’re seeded number one in the tournament so we should do well,” he said.
Although his team was defeated, Falcons’ coach Daryn Galatiuk was happy with his team’s performance.
“It was a tough, hard-fought game, and probably the best that we’ve played against them this year,” he said, adding that although his team played the Falcons well, the Ashmont team was “very strong and … deserved (the victory).”
Meanwhile, for junior high girls’ SPAA basketball, Mallaig will meet Glendon for the final today after beating Glen Avon 31 – 30.
On the junior boys’ side, Ashmont will face the Glendon Nobles after beating Glen Avon 42 – 26 in the semifinals. Glendon beat Ecole Racette by a score of 60 – 27 in West semifinals.
