ORILLIA LAKERS
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The Giant Tiger U15 Orillia Lakers girls basketball team travelled to Durham College this weekend and came away as Ontario Cup Division 3 Champions.
They started the weekend off against the York South Silver Knights. Orillia held a slim 19-14 lead at half, but put on a full-court press and pulled away for a 51-34 victory.
A strong Orillia defence continued in game two, and the team beat the Oxford Attack by a score of 47-20.
With first place on the line, Orillia went up against the Stoney Creek Storm. Orillia had a slim five-point lead, 24-19. The Lakers turned up the offence and out-scored Stoney Creek 36-21 to pull out a 59-40 victory.
With the win, Orillia went 3-0 and finished first in Pool A, earning the opportunity to play the Nepean Blue Devils for gold.
Nepean's full court press caused Orillia problems and the Lakers were down 21-18 at half-time. With some adjustments on offence and increased intensity on the defensive side, the Lakers pulled away to a 51-37 win and the gold medal.
The success this weekend was because of balanced scoring by every player on the team and great team defence.
Members of the gold medal champs are: Casey Quevillon, Katlyn Near, Hailey Mark, Anna Irwin, Anita Britton, Finley Brooks, Kaylee Windover, Natalie Smith, Kacey McQuaid, Mandy Wilson, Emily Near, assistant coach Shelby Russell and head coach Terry Chatten.
A special thanks to team manager Hailey Near and Giant Tiger for sponsoring the team this year.
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