Lord Dorchester's Kristen Bisschop (25) moves the ball up court past College Avenue's Makenna Wall (11), in TVRA senior girls' basketball. (photo / Rob J. Ross)
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
DORCHESTER, Ont. - By mid second quarter, coach Jess Coulas had his bench playing as many minutes as the starters.
That happens when the Lord Dorchester Beavers jump out to an early lead, like the 23-0 advantage, the team held against the Woodstock College Avenue Knights, in their Thames Valley Regional East division senior girls' basketball tilt, Tuesday, at the high school.
The Beavers cruised to their eighth win of the season, 41-22, in front of a packed gymnasium of students.
"There was a big crowd today. The girls were really excited (but) they were nervous too," Coulas said, of the rare 1:30 pm start, to allow students to watch during class hours.
On display was how the Beavers have remained undefeated, leading the East Division.
"The experience that we have with our starting group is pretty phenomenal," Coulas said. "They're very committed girls and they're very, very athletic. They come at you with a high tenacity and they don't stop."
Dorchester is not the highest scoring team, but they have only allowed an average of 17.7 points per game.
"Defence is our strongest point, but the Beaudry twins (Katie and Megan) can score in the double figures at any point," Coulas said.
Dorchester led 27-6, at half.
Up next for Dorchester and in the way of a possible 10-0 regular season, are two teams both with 6-2 records. The Beavers visit Woodstock Huron Park, Thursday, before hosting Woodstock C.I., on November 1.
"We have difficulty playing in the Huron Park gym historically. It's like a big cavern. That's going to be a tough game," Coulas said. "They're both good teams. That's our tune-up for the (TVRA 1-A) playoffs, so there's no reason not to get up for it."
Also motivating the Beavers, is a goal of returning to WOSSAA.
Last season ended in the WOSSAA 1-A final, losing to London Westminster, by five points. Six players, including the Beaudrys and Megan Dunn, are back, hungry to return to WOSSAA and shoot for an OFSAA berth.
Two years ago, the Beaudrys, Dunn, Emma Mutsaers and Kali Dayman, were part of Dorchester's junior winning WOSSAA 1-A squad.
© 2016 Hometownplay.ca