Junior Girls Basketball
St. Matt's Tigers roar to fifth straight Tier 1 junior girls hoops crown
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

The St. Matthew Tigers won their seventh Tier 1 junior girls basketball championship in the past eight years on Tuesday, downing the St. Mark's Lions 43-30 to cap a perfect 9-0 record.

The Tigers were led by Nana Wandji who scored a game high 17 points and hauled down seven rebounds. The Grade 10 student got her team off to a quick start by scoring the first two baskets of the game, but by the end of the first quarter it was the Lions who held a slim one point lead, up 10-9.

Wandji and her Tiger teammates then went on a 11-0 run to start the second quarter and by half-time they enjoyed a 10-point lead. The Lions weren't about to give up, however, and by the end of the third quarter they had chipped away at the Tigers lead to make it a three point game.

A basket and foul shot by Lindsay Suprenchuk and a pair of baskets from Wandji would give the Tigers some breathing room, and by midway through the fourth quarter they were up 39-28.

The veteran St. Matt's squad protected their lead the rest of the way and cruised to a 13 point win.

After the game Wandji, credited head coach Rick Despatie for keeping focused on the task at hand.

"He told us to focus on what we were doing and stop focusing on the scoreboard. We played together and stuck to our game and came out with the win," said Wandji.

Besides Wandji's 17 points, fellow Grade 10 Sarah Price had nine points, including a pair of three-point shots, and first year Grade 9 Hannah Packenham added eight points and two boards. Although Suprenchuk got into foul trouble early she still ended up with five points and five rebounds.

(Posted 7:30 p.m., Nov. 24)

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