Ross Sheppard – Losing the division two women’s basketball final by 14 points wasn’t so bad for the Bellerose Bulldogs.
“I would be disappointed if no one really tried, but we gave it our all and I’m honestly not that sad because we all tried our best,” said Grade 12 forward Zoe Zurowski after the metro Edmonton championship game against the Archbishop MacDonald Marauders.
Bellerose (10-4) showed marked improvement in the 70-56 outcome after the 66-44 setback to MacDonald (14-0) in league play.
“Honestly, this game was the best game that our team has ever played as a group because we really came together,” Zurowski said.
The differences between the two losses were bench strength and the extra incentive of a second-straight playoff banner for Bellerose after winning division three last year.
“We had our whole team this game except for Kirsten (Reid), she’s still injured, so it was a little easier for subs,” said Zurowski of the availability of only eight Bulldogs on the 12-player roster for the Feb. 12 contest at Bellerose. “We’ve also been practicing a lot and we’ve been trying harder too because we really wanted this game.”
MacDonald was also the winner of its home tournament by a sizeable margin against Bellerose in the final.
In the playoff tilt, a tedious first quarter was plagued by fouls as MacDonald led 16-9 after 10 minutes.
Down by nine points in the second quarter, baskets by Aneilia Ayotte, Jordana Rivet and Ella Birch prompted MacDonald to call a timeout with seven minutes left until halftime. When play resumed, MacDonald’s 14-3 point run was boosted by three three-pointers before Ellie Rezewski’s three with under four minutes until the break left Bellerose trailing 36-25 before the half ended with MacDonald in front 38-29.
Zurowski scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half and Ayotte chipped in with five points.
In the third quarter, fouls were a major problem for Bellerose as MacDonald shot 14-for-21 from the charity stripe and team’s first nine points were by free throws until a basket before the halfway mark in the period made it 49-32.
MacDonald ended the quarter at 61-39 with a buzzer beating three-pointer.
Bellerose willed its way back into contention with the 11-1 run to start off the last quarter and the closest it got to MacDonald was 11 points.
The slew of fouls eventually caught up to Bellerose as Ayotte drew her fifth with 7:30 remaining and MacDonald up 62-44 and Rivet was tagged with her fifth with 2:54 to play and the score was 65-54.
Ayotte left the game after potting 10 points and in last month’s loss to MacDonald racked up the opening 16 points for Bellerose before leaving with a knee injury with 1:35 gone in the third quarter and the host team far behind at 43-16.
Burch tied Zurowski for the team lead in the final for points with 12 while Erin Burch and Rivet added six apiece.
In the semifinals, Bellerose posted a 72-61 decision against the Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles (11-2) in Sherwood Park after falling short to the No. 9-ranked 3A team in the province in the 59-47 road decision Feb. 9 that ended a league opening six-game winning streak.
The winners of the Rise Up tournament at Sturgeon Composite High School in early December finished the season 16-7 overall with a lineup of six returnees and five Grade 10s, plus two different head coaches.
“We had a lot of talent so we came together pretty well,” said Zurowski, who pointed out, “Our zone defence got way better this year.”
Last year’s 12-2 league record was highlighted by the 53-34 victory against the J. Percy Page Panthers (11-3) for the division three championship after losing the last two league finals.
“After we won div three we were expected to be the underdogs this year, like maybe ninth place or seventh place, but we ended up going into cities (division two final) so it’s kind of crazy how we came from the bottom and almost to the top,” said Zurowski, 17. “Even though we got second it’s still awesome.”
BRINGING IT – Aneilia Ayotte of the Bellerose Bulldogs pushes the ball past Kole Graham of the Archbishop MacDonald Marauders in the metro Edmonton division two final Friday at Ross Sheppard High School. Bellerose (10-4) lost 70-56 after dropping a 66-44 decision to MacDonald (14-0) last month in league play. The metro final was the fourth in as many years for Bellerose and the first in division two after last year's division three championship victory and two second-place finishes.CHRIS COLBOURNE/St. Albert Gazette
