The Huntsville Hurricanes atom girls won the bronze medal last weekend at a basketball tournament hosted by the Brantford Briers.

The girls, aged 10 and 11 years old, were led by coach Loren Cornwell and played their best basketball of the season. They defeated the local Brantford team on Saturday night to bring home the third-place prize.

Huntsville travelled to Brantford Friday night to kick off the tournament against the Tillsonburg Gemini. The girls lost the game 44-13. The top Hurricane scorers were Taylor McAlpine with five points, and Laura Stilwell with four points.

After a hearty breakfast Saturday morning the Hurricanes scored a season-high 36 points against the home team Brantford Briers, and won 36-13.

Maddie Brear led her team in scoring with 16 points, followed closely by McAlpine with 12 points. Other scorers were Maeve Morin with four points and Teanna Wetlauffer and Sarah Fletcher with two points each. The thrilling win was the Hurricanes’ first of the year.

Game 3 took place on Saturday afternoon against the Durham Chameleons. Huntsville played their talented opponents closely and trailed by only seven points at the half. However, the Chameleons showed their true colours in the second half and pulled ahead to win 33-20. Scoring for Huntsville were Brear (four points), McAlpine (four), Megan Brush (four), Stilwell (three), Morin (three), Welauffer (two), and Elly Lapp (one).

The bronze-medal game involved a rematch between the hardworking host Briers and the improving Hurricanes. The first half was a defensive battle, with Huntsville led by Carly Palangio’s intensity. The half ended 9-6 for the visitors. However, Huntsville’s offense opened up in the second half, and they finished the third quarter ahead 21-14. They hung on to win the game 26-20, and with it the bronze medal.

There was balanced scoring from Morin (seven points), Wetlauffer (four), Hannah Zielonko (four), Lapp (two), McAlpine (two), Seanna Payne (two), and Stilwell (one).

The weekend was a great success. The team had fun together, won their first two games of the year, scored more points than ever before, and brought home a medal.

Cornwell was very pleased with her team’s performance. “All our players showed improvement this weekend, and our success was clearly a group effort. I’m proud of all of them,” she said.

The Hurricanes’ last game of the season takes place next weekend at home against Collingwood.