Provincial gold for Shock U12 girls

 St. Thomas goes undefeated at Ontario Cup division three tournament

 defeating Kanata, 34-25, in the gold medal game

   April 13, 2022

St. Thomas Shock OBA U12 girls D3 champions, from left, are: front row - Kyla Rummel, Keilah Centen, Kaye Burgess, Maeve Balsden, Sydney Chapman, Allison Sleegers, Lana Butorajac; back row - coach Ali Burgess, Maisie McClure, Annalise Verbruggen, coach Betsy McClure. (photo / courtesy Shock U12 girls)

By Rob J. Ross 

ST. THOMAS - It was a memorable trip to the nation's capital for the St. Thomas Shock U12 girls.

Allison Sleegers and Annalise Verbruggen, both scored 12 points, as the Shock defeated Kanata, 34-25, in the Ontario Basketball Association Ontario Cup U12 girls' Division Three gold medal game, at Ottawa, April 10.

"It was magical," Shock coach Ali Burgess said. "The girls on the court came running over and met the girls on the bench in a huge hug. It was a release of a lot of emotion after a stop and start season where you don't even know if you're going to get to go to the big end tournament. It was really emotional."

The Shock went 4-0.

"Our defence is really our key. We have some height on our side and we hadn't seen a lot of teams with height, but Kanata did have height," Burgess said. "We were able to contain their tall players which was amazing and speaks to the way the girls play defence. We play a good team supportive defence."

St. Thomas Shock's Maisie McClure brings the ball up court, during an Ontario Cup U12 girls' Division Three game. (photo / courtesy St. Thomas Shock)

St. Thomas opened the tournament cruising over the Toronto Lords, 32-14, with Maisie McClure dropping in 10 points and Verbruggen, eight points.

In their closest game of the weekend, the Shock got by the Toronto Huskies, 37-34, with Verbruggen scoring 14 points and McClure, 10.

Verbruggen poured in 18 points in the Shock's 34-14 win against the London 86ers. McClure chipped in with six points.

"We did have some injuries and two girls who couldn't make it to Ottawa. They are our ball handlers," said Burgess. "The team stepped up and filled those spaces and worked together in some positions they weren't comfortable. A truly team effort."

The girls celebrated a provincial title with the Shock's U12 boys.

"Right before our game, we knew the boys were in their championship, so we sent them a good luck video, saying let's go get these gold medals for St. Thomas Shock," said Burgess. "We also sent video home to our injured players."