THE Argyle and St. Thomas Aquinas senior girls basketball teams flipped the script on a couple of North Shore rivals on their way to collecting Lower Mainland championship titles in their respective divisions last weekend.
At the AAA level Argyle knocked off Handsworth in the Lower Mainland final, avenging a loss one week earlier in the championship game of the North Shore AAA finals. STA made the same play in AA, topping the Windsor Dukes in the Lower Mainland championship game just one week after losing to that same team in the North Shore AA final.
While revenge was sweet, it was the clustering of North Shore teams at the top of the Lower Mainland standings in two different leagues that most impressed STA head coach Anthony Beyrouti.
"I don't think that's ever happened before," Beyrouti said of having North Shore teams meet in both the AA and AAA Lower Mainland championship finals. "I think it just shows that we have pretty good coaching in North Van and the players have really bought into what the coaches are saying and they're really dedicating their time to putting in the work. . . . They've put in the work and now they've got some of the best teams in the Lower Mainland. It's kind of cool to be a part of it."
In the AAA Lower Mainland final Argyle raced out to a big lead and then hung on, withstanding a comeback attempt from the Royals to claim a 78-64 win.
"We got out to an early 14-point lead and then, like they always do, they reeled us back in," said Argyle head coach Anthony Fortunaso, adding that his bench players performed well in slowing the Handsworth attack down in the second half. Sophie Swant came up big for the Pipers, scoring 17 points in the second half of the final while also playing tough defence on star Handsworth point guard Abby Dixon.
"She was just huge for us in the second half . . . she was just attacking the rim, getting to the free throw line," Fortunaso said of Swant, who is only in Grade 10 but has emerged as a strong force for the Pipers down the stretch. Swant was named a tournament all-star along with teammates Chelsea Dekleer and Robyn Aulin-Haynes while point guard Claire Elliott earned MVP honours. Swant has turned Argyle's big three of Elliott, Dekleer and Aulin-Haynes into a big four.
"She played junior last year and the step up from junior to senior is so much bigger than any other jump," said Fortunaso. "It took her a few months to figure out the finer points of the senior game and kind of try to find her place within those three. She's definitely starting to gel with the rest of them so that's going to be huge for us down the stretch."
Elliott, meanwhile, controlled the ball throughout the tournament to earn her MVP award.
"She definitely stepped up her game a lot in terms of being a one-person press break machine and just running the offence really well, choosing when she needs to score and just finding people for shots when she doesn't need to score," said Fortunaso. "She's really picked up the finer points of the game in the last couple weeks here, which is going to be huge for us."
The AAA provincial championship tournament begins March 6 at the Langley Events Centre and both Argyle and Handsworth will be in the mix for a medal. If both teams win their first two matchups they would meet in the semifinals in what would be their sixth battle of the season. That would be a great accomplishment for North Shore hoops but maybe a little bit of overkill for two teams that now know each other inside and out.
"I could do without seeing them again, for sure," said Fortunaso with a laugh. "But we're not even looking at that. . . . At this point of the season you're just taking it one game at a time. If you're looking too far ahead, anyone can surprise you during the provincials."
As for STA, they topped Windsor 5036 to win their first Lower Mainland AA championship since 1980.
"We played our best basketball of the year," said Beyrouti. "It was exciting, the kids worked really hard. They really focused on what we were doing and they executed everything. It was tremendous."
STA's Kate Mockler and Tessa McDonnell earned tournament all-star honours while point guard Vanessa Botteselle was named MVP.
"She's starting to really take a leadership position with our team and help lead the team on the court, which has allowed me to step back and focus on the actual game and the adjustments that need to be made," Beyrouti said of Botteselle. "She gets everybody the ball, and they've been making plays lately so it's been really fun to watch."
The Fighting Saints will head into the provincial tournament, scheduled for March 6-9 in Kamloops, as the third-ranked team in the province. Windsor is not far behind, coming in ranked No. 5.
"They've got a very talented team, they've got a couple of very, very talented players," said Beyrouti of Windsor. "Sherrie Errico is about as good as there is in the province at the shooting guard spot, she does a very good job. She was a focal point when we played them, we needed to do everything we could to stop her and she still scored 15 points."
If both Windsor and STA win out at provincials they would meet in the final, a rematch Beyrouti wouldn't rule out but said would take some big upsets.
"It would be fun, for sure. Holy Cross is the No. 1 seed in the tournament and they're very, very good. It'll take a unique opportunity for either of our teams to compete with them. But anything is possible."
The North Shore is also represented at the A girls level with Mulgrave coming into the tournament as the No. 6 seed. The A provincials run March 6-9 in Prince George.
