Angels Claim Lower Mainland Wildcard

The first step on route to Provincials was our own League Playoffs. After dispatching York house by 20 points in the semi –finals, our Angels found themselves playing with only 6 players (due to injury and sickness) in the League Final against STM.  It was a hard-fought 83-51 loss for our girls. This gave them a berth in the Provincial qualifying Lower Mainland Championships, where they entered as the 5th seed

The first order of business was to play 12th seed McNair in a one game elimination, to advance to round of eight. The Angels dominated the game from start to finish winning 93-59.

A stiffer test followed. In the second game against Whistler, the Storm played a physical attack-style brand of basketball, which gave the Angels difficulty. It was like watching a bowling game, where the Angels were the pins being knocked around... but LFA only trailed by 10 at the half. Whistler continued to use their size advantage to gain position in the paint, but were also able hit their shots from the perimeter. The Angels didn’t give up and, to their credit, gave a late push--mainly scoring off defensive zone steals and cutting down the court on long passes. The Storm went on to win 68-52, which gave the Angels a must-win game 3 against a familiar rival York house.

The game was tense for both sides, as the loser would be officially eliminated from the tournament. The Angels possibly feeling the physical effects from the game against Whistler, did not have the same jump they often do. The Tigers had a slim lead, but in the final few minutes the Angels showed their never-quit attitude and pulled out a 69-60 win in dramatic fashion.

Big wins and crushing losses created a roller coaster week of emotions for players and coaches at the Lower Mainland tournament. After a close win against York House, LFA drew another familiar rival for the next round--the winner of the LFA vs. STM game would advance to the bronze medal game and get a chance at the automatic berth to the Provincials. The Angels, still beset by injuries, called up Junior Sara Dee ’20, who had an immediate impact on the game, hitting timely shots from the key. In the end, the Angels had to change their game strategy due to early foul trouble, but still lead by one at the half. With more coaches than bench players ,the Angels struggled in the second half with several players close to or fouling out. The Angels played hard but the fresher Knights took advantage of the height mis-matches to hang onto to a 70-64 win.

It then all came down to one game. In the elimination game against Seycove, with a full Angels team, the Angels came out attacking from the outset, pressuring the Seyhawks into making mistakes all game. The team got contributions from all players at key moments in the game. Ava Macfarlane ’20, though out-sized, played a gritty game under the basket fighting for rebounds, Isabel Jalandoon’19 and Sara Dee ’20 provided much needed energy off the bench. Coming from a volleyball tournament, Ashley Velasco ’19 never seems to tire, and contributed at both ends of the court, Sharon Luk ’19 worked the paint area as Maya Landero-van ’20 ,Ceili McCabe’19 and Raichel Feenan’18 provided the scoring. Allison Kuzyk’20 joined the LFA 3 pointers club, hitting her first Senior career three (if memory serves) with the game and shot clock winding down. Congratulations to Ceili McCabe ’19, who was chosen as a tournament all-star. The Angels came in ranked 5th and finished 5th.

Come out at 5:30pm on Tuesday night at Britannia High School as your Angels play Pitt Meadows with the winner going to the Provincials. Go Angels!