Wildcats U10 girls win provincial gold
The Chatham-Kent Novice U10 Wildcats girls basketball team won the Ontario Cup provincial championship on March 24.
Front Row: Olivia Smulders, Zoey Allen, Aubree Brown, Sloane Wright
Middle Row: Campbell Brewer, Fitz Schaffner, Oksana Goure, Hannah Forget, Daria Hendrie, Myana Wright, Ava Beattie, Ryan Carpenter, Lily Blokzyl, Larry (mascot)
Back Row: Coaches Kevin Carpenter, Kyle Wright, Paul Blokzyl
The Novice U10 Girls Wildcats peaked at just the right time this season, resulting in a picture perfect provincial weekend in the Niagara region and a gold medal championship win by two points at the buzzer.
The Wildcats won in the final on Sunday against the London Ramblers. Having won, loss, and tied against the Ramblers already this season, the team was prepared for a battle.
And battle they did. Diving for every loose ball, hustling on both ends of the court, the two teams went back and forth for the lead all game, heading into the last quarter all tied up.
Much like the seven before it, the final period was one of high intensity. Still tied 12-12 with only eight seconds left in the game, the Wildcats had one last offensive attempt before overtime would begin. Chatham’s Myana Wright took the ball up the court, and fought through a double team to shoot from the top of the key. Wildcat Lily Blokzyl grabbed the rebound, spun around and put up a shot up that would be good for two, as the sound of the end-of-game buzzer erupted the entire gym.
The Wildcats made the final after going 3-0 in pool play.
The roster of 13 consisted of only three returning players. With 10 new athletes, the coaching staff were prepared for a season of rebuilding.
“Initially, our goal was to really introduce a lot of the girls to the game and develop some of those foundational skills” explained head coach, Kyle Wright, “but week after week they showed up, ready to learn and take on any challenge they were presented with.”
As the squad grew to enjoy one another just as much off the court as they did on, they began to exceed those initial rebuilding expectations and started to compete against clubs from near and far.
Their provincial weekend opened with a head-to-head against the Burlington Force. Relentless defence by the Wildcats held Burlington to only five points as the team picked up their first win of the weekend with an impressive 20-5 triumph.
The next match was against a familiar opponent, the Huron Lakers. Again, the wildcats refused to let up or back down, coming out on top after eight periods, 21-6.
The third game, and last of pool play, was against a brand new opponent for the girls, the GCBA Wolverines from the Ottawa area. The Wildcats got off to a bit of a slower start, but it wasn’t long before they found their groove, beating the Wolverines 22-14 and earning themselves a spot in the gold medal game the next day.