The Kondors continue to show plenty of pluck, but it was the Golden Eagles clawing out a wild 44-42 win at The Nest in AA Senior Girls basketball action last Thursday.
“That was a good game,” KSS coach Barry Bevilacqua agreed after, adding, “we just gave them a couple open look shots and couldn’t close it out down the stretch, which is something we’ll be working on.”
The game was tied 7-7 after the first quarter. KSS took a 21-20 lead into the half, and led 33-29 after three.
The ‘Eagles battled back and were leading 43-38 with 1:10 remaining in the game. KSS scored the next two buckets to cut it to 43-42, and were forced to start fouling.
KSS sent the visitors to the line three times and all three times they missed their shots but grabbed the rebound. Woodlands nailed down the win when they sunk their fourth foul shot in the dying seconds of the game.
“They played very well and we didn’t play our best,” said coach B, adding “since Christmas we’ve been devastated with injuries, and we’re just starting to come back.”
Angelina Gastaldello led the Kondors with 13 points, and Bevilacqua had props for junior call-up Michala Witte who had a strong game at guard.
Kwalikum’s short bench felt the pain the weekend prior when they took to the floor at the Wellington SuperBall Tournament in Nanaimo with five players and not a single sub. The Kondors lost to AAA NDSS by four points, trimmed the Timberline Wolves by two and lost large to Cedar on the Sunday with nothing in the tank.
“They girls played gutsy,” chuckled their coach.
The loss to Cedar put the K-birds at 6-2 in league play. The locals closed out the regular season on Saltspring Island Monday night against the Scorpions, and have now shifted their attention to the playoffs. The eight-team AA Sr. Girls North Island championships go this Thursday through Saturday at Brentwood College in Mill Bay, with the top five teams advancing to the Island finals the following weekend.
