After watching visiting Carihi Secondary of Campbell River embark on a seven-point scoring streak late in the first half of Tuesday’s senior girls AA basketball game, Ballenas coach Steve Dorsay exhorted his players at halftime to prevent a repeat when play resumed.
No problem, coach.
The Whalers held Carihi to 0-for-19 shooting from the floor in the decisive third quarter and waltzed away to an 81-34 victory that left Ballenas unbeaten in North Island AA league play.
“We’ve just gotten a lot better on defence,” Grade 12 guard Kate Reynolds said. “We’ve learned to move with our feet instead of checking with our hands. And we’re playing help defence a lot better, so when someone gets beat another person steps in front.”
Fellow Grade 12 Makayla Hoey scored a game-high 29 points and Reynolds added 24 as Ballenas improved to 5-0 in league play, 13-1 overall.
The Whalers were coming off the girls championship in last weekend’s 62nd Totem Tournament in Port Alberni, and their strong run on defence actually began in the championship final, a 65-57 win over Spectrum Community School of Saanich.
In that contest, Spectrum scored 22 points while grabbing the first-quarter lead, but managed just seven in the crucial fourth period as Ballenas pulled away.
“We switched things up; we had a couple of defences,” Ballenas coach Brian Sales said. “That one we just worked on (against Campbell River) is good against a team that doesn’t have good outside shooters. If a team can shoot, it doesn’t work as well.
“You want to keep changing it up, changing and changing.”
All those missed shots meant lots of rebounds, and the Whalers enjoyed a whopping 83-46 advantage on the glass. Four players reached double figures in rebounds, led by Sophie Dugas with 11.
Reynolds, Hoey and Samantha Dimter each hauled in 10 boards, and Reynolds and Hoey each added three blocked shots as the team amassed 11 rejections.
Most importantly, the rebounds and blocks turned into transition points as the Whalers got their running game into gear in the second half.
When they were forced into a half-court set, they were particularly effective running give-and-go plays through the high post.
“Steve’s been working them hard on fast transition and pushing the ball and we were getting a lot of layups,” said Sales. “And we’ve been doing a lot of drills on passing and cutting, and the girls were executing it.”
Dugas added nine points and Amanda Greenshields chipped in eight in the win, which was marred when Erica Friesen — the only other Grade 12 on the team besides Reynolds and Hoey — aggravated a knee injury and had to be helped from the floor.
The Ballenas girls will be on the road for league play the rest of January, finally returning to host Nanaimo District Secondary School Feb. 7.
Above: Ballenas guard Makayla Hoey, left, blocks a shot attempt by Carihi's Sydney Boyle in the second half of the teams' North Island AA basketball game Tuesday at Ballenas. — Image credit: J.R. Rardon/PQB NEWS
Whalers 81, Tyees 34
Carihi 10 11 2 11—34
Ballenas 20 18 23 20—81
Tyees — Emma Skalik 9, Sydney Boyle 8, Sarah Baines 7, Alexis Gabelhaus 3, Emily Dreger 3, Claudia Barnes 2, Kianna Spencer 2, Callie Ann Massie.
Whalers — Makayla Hoey 29, Kate Reynolds 24, Sophie Dugas 9, Amanda Greenshields 8, Mackenzie Hudson 4, Emma Canil 2, Jordan Haycock 2, Samantha Dimter 2, Avi Franklin, Taiya Mclellan.
Rebounds — Carihi 46 (Boyle 7), Ballenas 83 (Dugas 11). Assists — Carihi 6 (Skalik 2, S. Bains 2), Ballenas 17 (Hoey 6). Blocked shots — Carihi 5 (Dreger 2, Massie 2); Ballenas 13 (Reynolds 3, Hoey 3). Steals — Carihi 19 (S. Bains 6), Ballenas 10 (Dugas 4). Turnovers — Carihi 22, Ballenas 30.