Knights topple Spartans

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

A bleeding nose knocked the Strathmore High School girls Spartans out of the flow of the game.
The Holy Trinity Academy Knights dissolved the Spartans 65-53 at the Strathmore High School on Dec. 21.
Trailing 31-29 at half, the Spartans were hanging tough with the undefeated Knights.
Grade 11 guard Allie Davidson was having a nice game; she was putting the ball on the floor, driving to the hoop and getting her teammates involved while away from the ball.
Early in the third quarter, she took an elbow to the nose, causing it to bleed rapidly. The blunt force didn’t even allow her to get to her bench; instead, she sprinted to her locker room to clean up the mess.
With Davidson out, the Spartans (3-1) offence hit a snag and the Knights capitalized. Davidson returned with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter, but her team was trailing. They ended the quarter down 50-39.
“Once she got hurt, they went on a couple runs and we didn’t have enough in us to battle back,” said Spartans head coach Dion Galandy.
Davidson still managed to finish with 18 points, and hauled down six rebounds.
The Knights (4-0) are a long and strong team. They play solid on defence in the paint and are a headache to deal with on the defensive glass.
For Galandy’s undersized squad, the size disadvantage didn’t seem to bother them. As a jump-shooting team from the perimeter, their strategy didn’t waiver.
The three-pointer didn’t help the Spartans at all. Brianna Kennedy, normally a marksman from downtown, went 2-for-18 from deep and Kaylin Larson finished 2-for-13 from the land beyond.
“We are more of an outside-shooting team. That’s just who we are. If that’s our game, we got to live with it. I’m not going to tell them not to shoot,” said Galandy.
Most of Kennedy’s hoists came late, as she tried to shoot her team back into contention. Early, after a couple of misses, she would catch the ball at the three-point line and work her way into the paint, getting a layup or drawing a foul. She finished with 12 points.
Ffyona Gibson-Smith was effective, chipping in with six points on seven shots, and Tatum Wathen led the Spartans with seven boards.
Breaking for the holidays, the Spartans pick up Foothills Athletic Council action Jan. 11 when they head to Highwood High School to take on the Mustangs.