Bechard Leads Bantam Wildcats to Championship

The Chatham-Kent Wildcats Major Bantam girls captured gold this past weekend at the London Ramblers tournament. The team was paced by Burke Bechard, who was named the Barry Hall Memorial Award winner, as the tournaments Most Outstanding Player.

In the team’s opening game against the Kitchener-Waterloo Lightning. Bechard scored 13-points in the win, while Wildcats teammate Allyson Huckle topped all Chatham-Kent scorers with 15-points. The Wildcats won the game 50-30.

Facing Blessed Sacrament 2 in their second game, Chatham-Kent came away with a 58-18 victory. Bechard was the games top scorer with 14-points, while Lauren Ball chipped in 10.

Bechard exploded offensively in the Chatham-Kent Wildcats third game of the tournament, scoring 23-points. Ball scored 12, while Huckle had 7-points in the Wildcats’ third victory of the tournament, this time by a 52-28 margin.

Advancing to the semi-final, the Wildcats faced Brantford CYO, easily dismissing their opponent 45-30. Bechard had 12-points, while Logan Kucera and Huckle each scored 9-points.

Facing a tough host team, the London Ramblers, in the final, the Wildcats needed a balanced attack to take home the gold. Burke Bechard again topped Chatham-Kent scorers with 17-points. Huckle had 16-points, while Ball (6-points), Brooke MacKinnon (5-points) and Jana Kucera (5-points) also contributed in the final, a 53-46 win.

Pictured Above – Front Row: Allyson Huckle, Lauren Ball, Middle Row: Jana Kucera, Logan Kucera, Burke Bechard, Back Row: Coach Doug Ball, Kaylee Boulley, Riley Torres, Brooke Mackinnon, Margaret Mahu, Coach Cesar Torres, Missing: Loren Koluk who played 4 of 5 games but had to leave for vacation.