It was a busy Saturday in the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association.
Let’s take a spin around the three games:
Lake City 56ers 87, Moncton Mystics 70
The Saturday games started with a matchup between the Lake City 56ers and host Moncton Mystics. The game started with Kelly Vass running the Moncton offence e with three early assists in the first quarter and the points being dropped by the scoring leader for the Mystics Leo Elbert, who put on a scoring burst in the first quarter. Elbert is averaging 24.5 points per game on the season, the offence from the Mystics would help them gain an early big lead. The second quarter was all Lake City. Led by Courtney Donaldson shooting from all over the court. Lake City not only cut the lead but at the end of the first half they ended up leading by eight points.
The second half started even stronger for the 56ers. Their offence continued to flow, but the physical defence held the Mystics to 11 points in the third quarter. Moncton’s Jenna Jones tried to cool down the 56ers offence with some nice post-scoring but overall the lead grew to 18 by the end of the third quarter.
In the end, even though the Mystics tried to make it close with some fourth-quarter pushes, the teamwork for the 56ers proved to be too much and the Lake City 56ers pushed its win streak to four with the 87-70 win.
Halifax Thunder 95, Port City Fog of Saint John 54
The second game of the day was the Port City Fog of Saint John traveling to Halifax to play the Halifax Thunder at Saint Mary’s University. The game started with a dominant start from the Thunder, not only going up eight but holding the Fog off the scoreboard for over three minutes to start the game. The Fog started to score as the quarter went along but the smothering defence and long-range shooting from the Thunder gave it a double-digit lead at the end of the first quarter over its guests.
The second quarter was more of the same, the Fog had some good looks but couldn’t find the bottom of the basket. Rachel Farwell cut the lead to single digits at one point with a clean three, but forced turnovers and defensive plays helped the Thunder go on an 11-2 run to open the lead back up, With major help from some crafty finishes at the basket from Justine Colley-Leger. Thunder ended up taking a 24-point lead at halftime.
Teamwork was the key in the third quarter and it was centred around Thunder players Karla Yepez and Kate Upham who were key in ball movement, shot creation, and ball control when the Fog tried to cut the lead, including multiple defensive stops and no-look passes. Along with some elite shot-making from Katie Ross and Alaina McMillan, Thunder closed the quarter strong with a 38-point lead
Thunder held on to the gas in the fourth quarter with some balanced team scoring, a bright spot for the Fog in the fourth quarter was Kyla Karr with some good rebounding and mid-range shooting, the Thunder took the win and remained undefeated through four games with the final score, 95-54.
Fredericton Freeze 75, Halifax Hornets 53
The final game of the night saw the Fredericton Freeze make the trip to Halifax to take on the Hornets, and both teams had some extra pep in their step. The game plan of the Hornets was to get the pace going and race up and down the court, it showed because they scored confidently in transition in the first quarter. However the Freeze didn’t slow down, it kicked up the pace and had its run-scoring in transition to keep it close.
The second quarter started with the Freeze putting the Hornet’s offence on ice. Defence turning into offence due to the aggressive full-court press helped the Freeze go on a 14-2 run to gain the lead with help from Allie McCarthy being lethal from midrange. She is shooting 43.5 per cent from midrange this season. After a timeout, Hornets’ coach Augy Jones switched to a 2-3 zone and back to man-to-man, to try and cool down the Freeze offence and it worked. But again, after some mid range shots being hit in transition, the Freeze lead grew to 36-30 at the end of the first half.
The second half started with more fast-paced basketball, intense pressure, and impressive speed. The Hornets continued to be bothered by the Freeze full court pressure, but once they got past the trap they were able to get good looks, especially Eva Widmeyer who knocked down multiple triples to keep the Hornets in it. Towards the end of the quarter, the Freeze decided to slow the game down and it worked with deep triples falling left and right for Freeze’s Bailey Russell and Ann Bastien. Their lead increased to 14 at the end of the third.
Early in the fourth, it seemed like the Hornets flipped the switch. With help from post player Jasmine Parent, who opened the quarter with four points, two steals, and three rebounds, they cut the lead to eight. However it didn’t last long, the Freeze seemed to have unlimited stamina pushing the pace once again and getting layup after layup in transition from Eva Tumwine, they extended the lead back to 20. The final score favoured the guests, 75-53.
– Fredericton’s Allie McCarthy drives against Hornets’ Eva Widmeyer (DWinston Photo)