This past weekend, the Huntsville Hurricanes Bantam girls’ basketball team travelled to Ottawa to participate in the Ontario Basketball Association championships.

The girls were competing against 15 other teams and were in a pool with Kingston, Stathroy and Hamilton. The round-robin portion of the tournament saw the Hurricanes advance with a 3-0 record. In the Friday night game Michelle Murat led all scorers with 14 points en route to a convincing 39-10 victory over Hamilton. Keeley Wettlaufer and Samantha Snowden each chipped in with eight points. Emma Fehr added four, while Marly Theberge and Sarah Stone added three and two respectively. Krystal McIntyre, Ashley Brush and Larissa Chapman added much-needed rebounding and defence, as they would for the entire weekend.

On Saturday, Huntsville was rewarded with a 20-0 victory over Strathroy, then took on the Kingston Impact and walked away with a convincing 41-24 victory. Fehr led all scorers with 11 points. Theberge added nine, while Wettlaufer chipped in with eight. Rounding out the scorers were Chapman with five, Snowden with four and Murat and Stone with two each.

On Saturday evening the girls moved into the elimination round against the Osgoode Bedrock from the Ottawa area. The Hurricanes started well and stormed out to a 27-9 half-time lead. Osgoode made a second-half run but fell well short, with Huntsville moving on with a 36-21 victory. Murat again led all scorers with 14 points. The remaining scorers were Stone with six, Fehr and Snowden with five each and Theberge, Wettlaufer and Chapman with two each.

A quirk in the scheduling saw the Hurricanes matched up in the Sunday morning game against the Kingston team, who had also advanced in the elimination game. This game was much closer than the first meeting with the Hurricanes clinging to a 22-19 half-time lead. A strong second half saw the girls move on to the championship game with a 56-42 victory. Wettlaufer led all scorers with 17 points. Murat added 16. Other scorers were Chapman with eight, Fehr with six, Stone with four, Theberge with three and Snowden with two.

In the championship game the girls were matched against a Midland team who had also advanced with five victories. The Hurricanes fell behind 8-0 early but fought back to lead 19-15 at the half. The lead went back and forth the entire second half with Huntsville enjoying a late two-point lead.

A desperation shot by a Midland girl with very little time left found the net for a three-pointer, leaving the Hurricanes on the short end of a 35-34 score. Stone led Huntsville with nine points while Chapman added eight. Other scorers were Wettlaufer and Fehr with five each. Murat with four, Snowden with two and Theberge with one would complete the scoring.

This brought the girls’ season to an end with a respectable 16-13 season record while competing at many difficult tournaments. The girls brought home a very well deserved silver medal from

the championships.

Amy Leblond was unable to play in the tournament because of an injury, but did participate as a very important part of the team with her never-ending support and encouragement.