Jr. Salukis trounce Redmen
Pat Payton St. Marys Salukis’ smothering full-court press proved to be too much for the Central Huron Redmen last Wednesday afternoon at DCVI.
Nine out of 10 times the Redmen attempted to bring the ball up court, the Salukis’ swarming defence caused turnovers—leading to a rather easy 54-14 Huron-Perth League victory for Sue Lawrence’s Junior girls basketball team.
“We generate a lot of offence off that press,” said Lawrence, who watched her team boost its record to 5-3 in the H-P standings.
“Loose ball play” is also a key area where Salukis have improved, the coach notes.
“The press generates loose balls, just by the nature of it. When there are loose balls, you have to be looking, and try and turn them into two points.
“We worked on that today. Our loose-ball play had to be better. You have to want the ball when it’s loose, and I think we did well in that aspect of the game today,” Lawrence added.
After building a 14-4 first-quarter lead, St. Marys held Central Huron scoreless in the second quarter and took a 28-4 advantage to the locker room at half-time. Salukis were in front 41-8 at the three-quarter mark.
18 points for King
Nine different players scored points for DCVI, led by Rachel King and Mallory Mueller. King fired 18 points (nine in each half), including a three-point bomb in the second half. Mueller added 16 points in another strong effort, while Brittany Smith had six points and Laura Van De Walle four.
Coach Lawrence uses the words “very dedicated” to describe her 2009 team.
“Just about everybody is at practice every morning,” she says. The Jr. girls practice three times a week before school.
The Redmen fell to 0-9 with the loss. Leading the H-P standings are Stratford St. Mikes and Goderich, both with 8-0 records. Stratford Central and Clinton St. Anne’s are next with 6-3 records. St. Marys and Exeter South Huron (5-4) both have 10 points.
Upcoming: The DCVI Junior girls play at Goderich today (Oct. 28) against the host Vikings and Stratford St. Mikes Warriors.
The league quarter-finals start Wednesday, Nov. 4. The semi-finals are Monday, Nov. 9, with the finals on Wednesday, Nov. 11.