Jr. Lady Gens win SWOSSAA AAA crown with 49-30 win over Sarnia St. Pat's

Amherst stifles Sarnia team with solid defensive effort

Posted By Ron Giofu/The Amherstburg Echo

Updated 2 months ago

The General Amherst Lady Gens junior girls basketball team captured the SWOSSAA AAA title Thursday night with a 49-30 win over Sarnia St. Pat's. It was the fifth consecutive SWOSSAA title for the jr. Lady Gens, the previous four being at the AA level.(Photo: Ron Giofu/The Amherstburg Echo)

AMHERSTBURG — The General Amherst Lady Gens captured their fifth straight SWOSSAA title, this time at the AAA level, as they defeated the Sarnia St. Patrick's Fighting Irish 49-30 Thursday night.

It is also the sixth SWOSSAA title in seven years for the junior Lady Gens.

The Lady Gens used a 9-0 run to end the first quarter in order to build a 17-9 lead after the first eight minutes. Amherst scored the first seven points of the second quarter and outscored the Fighting Irish 12-1 in the frame to go up 29-10 at the half.

Amherst went up 32-10 in the third quarter but Sarnia St. Pat's didn't quit as they had an 8-1 run of their own to make the game closer. However, Amherst still led 37-18 after three quarters en route to the win.

"We came out like gangbusters," said Amherst coach Greg Scott. "We did what we wanted to do defensively. That was our main concern. We hadn't seen (Sarnia St. Pat's) all year but we got a couple of scouting reports on them. My main concern was defense and I knew if we had a good transition game, which is our game, then we'd be successful and we did that. We were able to get the ball inside and the post players did a good job inside finishing. It was tough for them to try and come back once we got up."

Scott expects much of the team to return next year although they lose at least three Gr. 10s to the senior team. He said it's "always awesome" to end a season with a championship and hopes to keep the run going.

"This is a fantastic group of girls to work with. They work hard all year. It's tough to make that commitment to come in almost every night to practice and play from September to November," said Scott. "We have a committed group of girls."

"It feels amazing," said Lindsay Kondracki, one of the three Gr. 10s. "I just want to cheer out loud. I'm very happy."

Kondracki led the Lady Gens with 19 points while Katie Breault had 14 points.

"We gave it all we had. We left it all on the floor," added teammate Sarah Bondy. "It feels really good to be a SWOSSAA champ."

Rebekah French was happy to be a SWOSSAA champion, particularly in her first year on the team. She said she developed as a player throughout the season.

"I'm glad for the team, happy for the team," she said.

The Lady Gens knew that the Fighting Irish were a good shooting team with some good post players, said Rebecca Krug. Krug said the Lady Gens were nervous coming into the game but they played hard and got the victory.

Other team members included Samantha Davidson, Robin Kellam, Erica Garrod, MacKenzie Morencie, Karli Ficociello, Alex Leroux and Jade Parent.

The Lady Gens finished the season with a 20-1 overall record including 18 wins in a row to conclude the year. They also won the Kingsville Cavalier Invitational and were finalists in the Essex Red Raider Classic.