Wildcat Atom girls win Silver at the Ontario Cup
After a COVID shortened regular season, playing only 7 games, the Chatham-Kent Wildcats Atom girls won silver at the Ontario Cup.
The Wildcats were placed in division 1, ranked 8th place out of 8 teams. In their pool of 4 teams the Wildcats finished with a 2 wins 1 loss record. Two other teams in their pool also finished with a 2-1 record therefore the Ontario Basketball Tie Break format took effect. The Wildcat Atom girls won the tie-breaker as they had more points for than allowed compared to the other two teams.
In the first game of pool play the Wildcats played the home team, Oakville Vytis and came away with a 33-24 opening night win. Lucy Gillett had 10 points, 12 rebounds and 3 steals. Ella Matteis added 5 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. Jaida Brown, Hannah Leidl and Alivia Brown contributed 4 points each. Anna Morkin, Layla Bardyla and Willow Sparling each had 2 points in this contest.
In the second game of pool play the Wildcats faced the #1 ranked team, the Peterborough Power. A low scoring game ensued with Peterborough coming out on top by a score of 25-20. Anna Morkin had 9 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 1 block. Ella Matteis contributed 4 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal and 3 blocks. Irelynd Cormier had 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 assist.
In the final game of pool play, Chatham-Kent played UA Canada Elite, a team from Burlington. Despite not shooting well the Wildcat girls played their scrappy style and came away with a 30-11 win. Willow Sparling led the way with 6 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 blocked shot. Jaida Brown conquered her layup blues and had a strong 8 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Ella Matteis, strong all tournament, added 5 points and 3 rebounds. Steady as usual, Anna Morkin had 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block. Layla Bardyla had 2 points and 3 steals. Lucy Gillett had 2 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist. Alivia Brown had 2 points, 2 blocks and an impressive 10 steals. Alivia is a gifted basketball pickpocket.
In the Gold Medal game, the Chatham-Kent Wildcats faced the Sudbury Jam, a team that had won all of their pool play games by a good margin. The Wildcat girls got their shots off but couldn’t buy a basket and lost 31-15. Ella Matteis had 4 points and 5 rebounds. Anna Morkin had 3 points and 3 rebounds. Hannah Leidl, Alivia Brown, Lucy Gillett and Willow Sparling each had 2 points.
The Atom girls came away with the silver medal in the D1 Ontario Cup.
Team members are Cheyenne Revels, Jaida Brown, Irelynd Cormier, Julia Smith, Layla Bardyla, Hannah Leidl, Ella Matteis, Anna Morkin, Alivia Brown, Lucy Gillett and Willow Sparling. Thanks to the fine coaching of Dr. Leann Jones, Scott Sparling and Charles Peet.