St. Thomas defeats Barrie, in OBA U14 (bantam) girls' bronze game
Wednesday, April 24, 2018
St. Thomas Shock, Ontario Basketball major bantam girls (U14) Division eight bronze medalist, from left, are, front row - Lily Roberts-Neef, Cadence Popen, Brianna Roy; back row - coach Gerry Fairbanks, Harper Collins, Jodie Jackson, Ally Pettit, Kayla Roberts, Camryn Roth, Logan Snyder, Christina White, Moira Haldenby, coach Kyler Fairbanks. Absent from photo is Nicole Dawdy, Brennen Fairbanks, Teylan Fairbanks. (photo / courtesy St. Thomas Shock)
By Rob J. Ross
ST. THOMAS - The St Thomas Shock major bantam girls capped a 23-7 season with a bronze medal, at the Ontario Basketball Association under-14 Division eight provincial championship, April 15, in Brampton.
St. Thomas doubled up on the Barrie Royals, 24-12, in the bronze medal game, finishing with a 3-1 record.
"We won bronze, but it felt like we won gold," Shock coach Gerry Fairbanks said. "For the girls it was exciting to see them accomplish a great season."
Three of the four teams in their pool finished at 2-1, requiring a tie-breaker and after things shook out, left the Shock, in the third place game.
The Shock won their first two pool games, defeating NRBA Crazy Cats, 34-23 and the Sudbury Jams, 19-9, who would play the South Windsor Wildcats, in the gold game.
A tough 25-23 loss to Penetanguishene-Midland, in the Shock's final pool game, kept St. Thomas from the gold game.
"We started off with a 4-0 run, then the table turned. We were chasing them till a little more than two minutes left in the game," said Fairbanks. "We were up by two (but) we turned the ball over which caused us to foul. They hit all foul shots, go up by two and that was it."
Included in their overall record are two tournament wins.
"All of the coaching staff will miss this group of girls and wish them success heading into high school."
U13 girls
In U13 girls' action, the Shock lost in the Division five consolation game to Guelph, 22-20. In pool play, St. Thomas beat North Toronto and lost to the London 86ers and Nepean.