Spirits Defeat Improved Toilers

Story and Photos by Robert Thomas

On paper the Vanier Spirits senior girls basketball team should have easily defeated the Peacock Toilers.

Vanier is not having a season as great as last season but nevertheless they are holding their own with a 2 - 2 record.

Meanwhile the young Peacock has taken a lot of bumps the first half of the season sporting a 0 - 3 record.

But the paper got tossed as the Toilers arguably played their best game so far in city league action. A high spirited affair with the Toilers challenging the Spirits throughout the entire 40 minutes.

But in the end it was not enough as the Spirits took control of the second half going on to defeat the Toilers 61 - 55.

The first half of the game could be typified not just as a defensive struggle but one where both teams stuck to the fundamentals.

Like some Hoosiers inspired sequel both teams did not employ a quick shot offence but meticulously worked for the best shot.

For close to five minutes in the second quarter the score was Vanier 19 and Peacock 18 as neither team was able to break the deadlock.

A free throw saw Mattaya Coupland tie the game at 19 - 19.

But the brief tie would be undone when the Spirits Madeline Cruz scored a late three pointer seemingly knocking the wind out of the Toilers as the half ended the score 22 - 19.

“I think we struggled a little bit in the first half just getting into our groove and definitely when the second half came around we got back to playing some good Vanier basketball together as a team. Which was really good,” said Spirits player Ireland Guillaume.

Asked if the Spirits were surprised by the Toilers disciplined and fundamentals based attack in the first half Guillaume said it was expected.

“We always know they are a good team. They have a lot of good players who work hard. So we definitely knew it was going to be a tough game,” she said, adding “they came out strong but we never gave up and fought until the end.”

There was no special pep talk at half time Guillaume said. The Vikings second half game changer simply happened, she said.

“I don’t know we just came out with more energy and more wanting to play and play together (as a team). We were working together well and our shots were falling. It just gave us energy as a team,” Guillaume said.

For fellow grade twelvers the Spirits Waverly Demassi it took a bit of time to adapt to the Toilers game plan.

“I thought it was really good. They ran a box and one which we really haven’t seen before. So we were a bit confused at the start of it, she said, adding “but I really feel after the game went on we started to figure it out.”

Both the Spirits and Toilers teams are the same size which had an effect on the game.

“We for sure are usually the smaller of the two teams when we are playing someone so it was nice to have the matchup that they were the same size.” Demassi said.

“Even when they are our same size we still have to be as physical as we are to teams taller than us as well.”

Asked what play stood out as a game changer Demassi said “We still played out ball and pushed right through it. Especially at half time like Ireland said we still had that energy. We came out and still had that real strong energy and we just kept a positive attitude the entire time. “

She said blocking was important as it helped the Spirits dominate play - especially in the second half.

Guillaume said the Spirits had come a long way this season and she was looking forward to upcoming regionals.

She sees the Spirits still growing offensively and defensively which is a good thing.

“We are still getting better and improving which is a good thing. I’m really proud of my entire team.”

Despite the loss Peacock Toilers player Jakson McAuley saw a lot of positives in the Toilers performance.

“It was a great effort by us. We were moving around a lot on our defense we switched around a lot. We put in a lot of work and effort into this,” McAuley said.

Asked about the Toilers’ fundamentals based play of the first half she said it’s something the Toilers have been working at.

“We’ve been working a lot on those fundamentals and I think especially in the first half we showed how much we’ve improved,” she said.

Vanier’s picking up the tempo in the second half “threw us a little bit” she said, adding “it was a really close score. It didn’t throw us of a lot though we still had a close score…it didn’t throw us off that much we just couldn’t catch up in the end.”

McAuley said the Spirits locking down more rebounds in the second half of the game was key something the Toilers hard work wasn’t able to break.

She said the team’s game plan came down to one word - grit.

“We wanted to give it our all the entire way through. We didn’t want to give up at any point.”

It’s a strategy she said kept the Toilers in the game for the entire 40 minutes.

“We had some errors but managed to keep up. I think we’re also pretty fast,” she said.

Despite being winless for the first half of the city league McAuley said the team is improving and there are plenty of opportunities for the Toilers to turn things around.

“There’s been a lot of work and how far we’ve come.”