Friday February 7th @ Loyalist
With the #1 seed in the east already secured, the Wolves wrapped up the regular season this past weekend on the road in Belleville and Kingston. Friday was a big one for the team as they took on the Loyalist Lancers who entered the day one spot behind Algonquin in the standings. These two teams know each other well after meeting in pre-season at the Battle of the St. Lawrence and in the regular season matchup in the 1st semester. The Wolves managed to win both of those games convincingly, but Loyalist is a tough place to play and earning a win in the Lancer Dome is no easy task.
The 1st quarter was evenly played with the teams trading leads on multiple occasions. The game was tied at 17 when the Wolves got a stop with 12 seconds to go. Mallory Katz secured the rebound and handed it off to Dasia McDonald who used her electric speed to go coast to coast and finish the left handed reverse layup to give her team the 19-17 lead after 10 minutes. McDonald had a big quarter with 8 points and 2 assists in the frame.
The 2nd quarter was very similar to the 1st with the teams trading punches throughout. The Lancers managed to regain a 2 point lead on two occasions. The Wolves began to gain some distance down the stretch with Ciannah Miller knocking down 2 free throws with 2:48 to go to extend the Wolves lead to 7, but Brooklyn White from the Lancers would knock down a 3 from the corner on the next possession to cut the lead down to 4. That's where it would remain going into the break. Dasia McDonald had another big quarter with 9 points in just 4 minutes of action. She had a game high 17 points going into the break. Cianah Miller had 9 points at the half.
The Wolves were in unfamiliar territory leading but only 4 at the half. They came out with a different intensity in the 3rd quarter. On the 1st possession of the half the Wolves dissected the Loyalist 2-1-2 zone leading to a Dasia McDonald 3 from the wing just 4 seconds into the quarter to extend the lead to 7. The Wolves would get a stop and on the next offensive possession Cianah Miller would get all the way to the cup to push the lead to 9. The Wolves shot an impressive 66.7% from the field and held the Lancers to just 20% leading to a 16 point lead going into the final frame. McDonald and Miller continued to impress, combining for 12 points. Libby Hirst came alive in the 3rd with 6 points.
The Wolves continued to impress defensively in the 4th holding Loyalist to their lowest scoring quarter with just 9 points on 18.8% shooting. The Wolves would secure a 72-49 win to improve their record to 13-0. Dasia McDonald had a monster game with a career high 31 points. She also added 7 rebounds and 5 steals. Cianah Miller dropped 14 points against her former squad. Libby Hirst was the last member of the double digit club with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Saturday February 8th @ St. Lawrence
The Wolves would close out the season in Kingston against the St. Lawrence Surge (2-11). These two teams met on November 8th in Ottawa with Algonquin coming away with a 94-35 win.
After a close 1st half in Belleville the night before, the Wolves were ready to put this one away early, coming out on fire to open up a 29-10 lead. They managed to get to the line 12 times in the quarter, knocking down 10 of them. They also shot an efficient 60% from deep. Cianah Miller continued to carry a large load of the offense scoring 9 points and shooting 5/5 from the charity stripe.
Things settled down a bit in the 2nd quarter, but the Wolves managed to extend their lead to 23 at halftime. The bench had a large contribution to the offense in this quarter with Anna Hirst (6), Cooper Drover (4) and Paige Foster (3) combined to 13 of the Algonquin's 17 points.
The Surge had their best quarter in the 3rd, playing the Wolves tough on both sides of the ball. Algonquin gained a slight edge winning the quarter 18-17 to extend the lead to 24 going into the final frame. Piper Hatherall began to put her stamp on this one scoring 6 points in the quarter to run her total to 11. The Wolves would tighten the screws defensively in the 4th holding St. Lawrence to just 7 points. Hatherall continued to have the hot hand scoring 9 points in the 4th. She finished with a game high 20 points and 8 rebounds. Cianah Miller had 17 points going a perfect 7/7 from the foul line. Dasia McDonald was quietly in double figures with 11. Leah Hirst and Chloe Lapoints combined for 14 points off the bench.
The Wolves improved to 14-0 completing their 3rd straight undefeated regular season! That marks 42 straight OCAA East wins. They will now turn their attention to the playoffs which will Kick-off on Saturday February 15th when the Wolves host the Sheridan Bruins at 1:00 pm at the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre.