(GIRLS FINAL) Walnut Grove Defeats S.W. Churchill to Win Girls Final for Second Time
Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs v Walnut Grove Gators
December 11, Girls Final
This had all the makings of a big-time showdown. We are at Collingwood’s Beautiful facility for a tip-off at 5:04 pm. Dawgs drew first blood and second blood with earned baskets and gave notice to the Gators early that possession was not going to be a certainty and would have to be protected and would be contested Dawgs with a 6-0 early lead. Gators got on the board with 2 made foul shots by Fania Taylor. But then Stefanie Hart did the same for SWC. Schroeder for the Gators made a cool spin around the basket to get her team to 4 points, but still down 6. Gators blocked Marah Dykstra’s shot under the basket and exploded down the court drawing a foul and making the shots: 10-6 with 2:25 left in Q1. Then Hart to the foul line for 1 of 2. Walnut is fast breaking and either scoring or drawing fouls: 11-8 SWC. Taylor made it 11-10 with a gentle floater. Nice touch. Gator’s Pemberton with a fearless drive to the basket ran into a forest and the score remained 11-10 and the end of Q1.
These are good teams that can smother offence, pick pockets and be physical. An SWC three was answered by a Pemberton drive, okay they don’t exactly balance out but the action was awesome. Pemberton driving on Dykstra? Call 911! And out of nowhere a Dawgs three from Claire Huang: its 21-12 with 6 left in the half. After a Pemberton fast break SWC’s Coach Dykstra called a time out. Happy for that, my fingers hurt. Then the frenetic pace continued and the Dawgs lead lengthened. Nystrom had a nice rebound/putback from a long 3 attempt followed by a Taylor steal and layup and ANOTHER Pemberton fearless layup. Lead by SWC back to 6. Then a Dykstra block on Taylor was ameliorated by a score on the inbound. Like my Levis – the lead is subject to shrinkage. The score was tied at 29 with 22 sec. left in the half.
Put the cattle out to pasture, we set fire to the barn!
Halftime Rabbit-hole Digression: Sir Winston Churchill was a British politician in the middle of the 20th century and had many famous sayings one of which was: “Success is not final, failure is not final: It is the courage to continue that counts.” He was known as the ‘British Bulldog’ due to a passing resemblance between his jowly self and that breed of canine. Hence the team’s nickname, the Bulldogs.
The tie was broken by the Walnuts who scored 5 straight, the last 2 being another tenacious putback. Timeout SWC. She tried again and was swatted by the elder Dykstra. Taylor made 1 of 2 charity shots and WG led by 5. Dykstra blocked Pemberton again and fouled her the second time. She made both shots. The Amber Hemrich made a beauty underhand scoop shot
For SWC: 37-32 Walnut Grove midway through Q3. If the secret to success is to have many contributors then these teams are successful. Then Pemberton to the line for 2. Lead at 8, 47-39 for Walnut Grove. Pemberton for 2 – a specialist in hotly contested close-in situations, even backwards over her head! In the dying seconds SWC broke out for what looked like an uncontested lay-up except that someone shot #4 Emma Slade out of a cannon to successfully defend the attempt. Score at the end of Q3, 52-40 for the Langley visitors.
Coild Amber Hemrich’s corner 3 give SWC the boost it needed? Not with Pemberton answering with a 2 answered in turn by Dykstra’s 2. More answers than a law school admission test! Taylor delivered an old school lefty hook shot for 2 followed by Emily Zhang’s answer for SWC. Score 57-49 with half the quarter left. Then a Taylor 3, a Taylor steal and a Pemberton put up. 62-49: momentum Walnut Grove. There needed to be some clock management on the home stretch.
Then, the last 1:54: SWC hustling, Walnut Grove slowing it down. A late 3 from SWC but WG countered. The final score: Walnut Grove 67, SWC 58. Player of the game is Kiera Pemberton of Walnut Grove.
Congratulations to the coaches and players of these two teams for a hard fought and thrilling ‘No Regrets’ final.