The Vanier Spirits might not have had the busiest regional basketball playdown this past weekend, but that didn’t change the fact they still needed to get the job done.
And while they ended up in a tough contest with the Regina Luther Lions on Saturday afternoon in their 4A girls regional final, the top seed in the province turned in a solid performance to advance to Hoopla this coming weekend in Moose Jaw.
The Spirits took a 21-14 lead out of the half and kept the lead to around 15 points in the second half as they went on to a 65-52 win,
That things were relatively close at points wasn’t a surprise to Vanier coach Christa Lapointe, given the provincial championship stakes. Not having a semifinal game might have played into things when it came to being sharp right off the hop, but as they’ve done much of the season, the Spirits found another gear when they needed it.
“It doesn’t matter what the rankings are or where you are, you have to show up and play whether it’s one game or two games,” said Lapointe. “We didn’t have a game yesterday but we practiced and then we got to watch a little bit, and then it was ‘alright ladies’. They came out and played hard and never let up and that’s what we wanted.”
Vanier senior Kate Waldenberger was naturally happy to see her team perform as well as they did against a tough opponent.
“It was a good game for sure,” said Spirits senior Kate Waldenberger, who had 14 points in the contest. “We played as a team and our defence was the key, we went into zone to shut down their drives and it worked. Then they started shooting and they made some great shots, but we executed really well.”
Lapointe was of a similar opinion, especially with the way Vanier was able respond to whatever Luther threw at them.
“The execution was good, we switched between man and zone every once in awhile, but kudos to Luther, they don’t quit and those are the teams you want to play against,” she said.
Ireland Guillaume led Vanier with 17 points, while Waverley Demassi put up 15.
Vanier will now face a very familiar opponent in their Hoopla semifinal in the Peacock Toilers, who also won their regional title.
“It’s all about the hard work that it took to get here,” Waldenberger said. “We’ve had the on and off with the teacher strikes, we didn’t get cities, and with Hoopla up in the air right now we really wanted to go out with a bang in this regionals game and we really did.”
Be sure to check back for the Hoopla schedule when it becomes available.
