The Sacred Heart Saints senior girls鈥� basketball team knew they were in tough this past weekend at the SHSAA 4A Girls Regionals in Regina after they found out their first opponents would be the recently crowned Regina City champion Luther Lions and their 6鈥�4鈥� superstar Angela Bongomin.
However that didn鈥檛 prevent them from coming out and playing hard. 鈥淚t was a little bit ironic. We usually start slow and finish strong but this time we had a good first quarter,鈥� offered Lady Saints head coach Chris Hansen. 鈥淲e came out strong and played our game and did well.
鈥淲e kind of flip-flopped it a little bit today and had a strong first quarter.鈥�
Unfortunately the size and skill of Luther proved to be too much in the final three quarters, with the duo of Bongomin and fellow grade 11 centre Ally Jackson outmuscling the smaller Saint players in a 62-24 Sacred Heart defeat. 鈥淭hey had a bigger bench than we did and they had a couple of key players that really shut us down,鈥� suggested Hansen, continuing, 鈥淏ig girls that we had really never seen out in the Yorkton area and they really were the difference.鈥�
The Lady Saints鈥� second game saw them play better both offensively and defensively; however it too ended in a loss, this time 56-37 to the Balgonie Greenall Griffins in the consolation round.
But despite ending the season with back-to-back losses, coach Hansen insisted that the season itself was a success. 鈥淔or us it was a very successful season. We played .500 ball throughout the season which is good,鈥� offered the Lady Saint head coach. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got some grade 12鈥檚 that have worked very hard since grade 10 to be on the court.
鈥淭hey might not be superstars but they worked hard to be on the court and we鈥檙e very proud of their progress and how far they鈥檝e come and I know they鈥檒l do great things after they graduate.鈥�
Graduating from the team are four members of the Saints, grade 12 athletes Taneisha Roussin, Bryn Hawkins, Taylour Ringdal and Hailey Vitkauskas.
And while those four players will be moving on, several key players will be continuing their basketball careers next season with the Saints. 鈥淲e have a lot of speed coming back. Both guards, Kendra Varjassy and Justine Zarowny, are going to be two of the better guards around,鈥� mentioned Hansen, continuing, 鈥淏oth can drive, both are smart playmakers and every day they step on the court they get better at being a playmaker.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a nice group of young ladies coming up as well and I鈥檓 very impressed with how the team will look next year.鈥�
