Barons take game one of NDA Hoops finals

The École Secondaire Catholique Algonquin Barons won game one in the NDA Senior Girls Basketball best-of-three final by downing the Chippewa Raiders 22-19 on Thursday night at the Algonquin gym. Jolinne Maisonneuve had an outstanding game - scoring 15 points - while Meagan Willard chipped in with 3. Sarah Trottier and Nadine Perron added 2 points each to round out the scoring for the Barons.

“We did what we had to do to win," said Barons head coach Tim Lowe.

“Our game plan was primarily based on defensive strategies, and we did a great job shutting down their big 3 – the Loreto sisters and Bonnie Jaskula," added Lowe.

Sarah Loreto managed 4 points, sister Sam scored 2 points and Jaskula was held scoreless. Top scorers for the Raiders were Kaitlyn Anderson with 5 points, while Sarah Bethune scored 4. Paige Berath and Lindsay Amell each chipped in with 2 points.

“Trottier and Alisha were fantastic," said Lowe. “They pressured their guards and managed to disrupt their offense patterns."

The Perron sisters each pulled down 7 rebounds, while Janelle Martin added 5 rebounds.

“But what a game by Jolinne Maisonneuve," said Lowe. “She scored, she played amazing defense and committed only 3 turnovers," he added.

“Her and Alisha are such a duo at the offensive end of the court. One of the big keys we had going in was keeping them off the foul line," said Lowe. The Raiders went to line 6 times, making 4. The Barons were an abysmal 1 for 8 from the charity stripe.

The Barons had many chances to pull ahead, but squandered easy opportunities by chunking 6 layups throughout the contest. But their defense was huge, especially in the third quarter when they held the Raiders scorless.

Game two is Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Raiderdome.

Submitted to BayToday.ca