It wasn’t the most offensive game and it definitely wasn’t the best game of this early season, but it ended with a pressure filled shot between the Central Cyclones and the Vanier Spirits.
Paige Newans of the Central Cyclones stood at the free throw line for a bonus shot with 4.8 seconds left in the game. The match was tied at 42 and she missed the first shot. With the win riding on her final free throw, Newans scored and the Cyclones were able to edge the Spirits 43-42 in senior girls basketball action on Tuesday evening.
“I thought Paige did a really good job of calming herself down. I thought the first one was going to go in, but I guess she wanted to make it a little more interesting,” said Cyclones’ coach Jocelyn Wigmore. “She took a great shot up there and it worked out well for us.”
It was a slow first quarter for both teams, but Vanier was able to hold a one-point lead. However, the Cyclones held a five-point lead at the half time break. Teams were tied after three quarters and it came down to the final shot of the game for the Cyclones to win it.
“It was perhaps defended well, but the offenses struggled out there,” stated Vanier’s coach Bob Gottselig. “Neither team could really find a game from the outside and consequentially, the teams piled into the key and said beat us from out there.”
Turnovers were the main story of the match as both teams struggled to get anything going on the offence because whistles kept being called, mostly for travelling.
“I can’t really explain why there were so many particularly unforced errors. The girls didn’t realize which was their pivot foot and taking off with their on their non-pivot foot before they drove. Sometimes there was just no pressure at all and they travelled,” explained Gottselig.
For more on this story, read an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
