Kajan Thiruthanikasalam (Sports Writer, Colts Athletics)
SCARBOROUGH, ONT.- Midway through the fourth quarter, Centennial Colts guard Judy Ta hit yet another triple, her third of the game, to the delight of the crowd and her teammates.
It was one of those games for the Colts, especially from behind the arc.
Centennial (7-7) hit a season high nine triples in a 74-46 blowout win over the still-winless Georgian Grizzlies (0-11) at the Athletic and Wellness Centre, using a strong second half to pull away from the visitors.
"I think we made a decision to get back to our defensive principles; we did a much better job at our full court pressure and forced them out of their initial actions," head coach Justin Bobb said. "We also started making better decisions around boxing out. When we stay committed to our defensive principles, we're a pretty tough team to score on."
Despite shooting 32.5 per cent from the field and 44.8 per cent from the free throw line, Centennial shot a scorching 56.3 per cent from downtown. The Colts also beat the Grizzlies in steals (16-8), assists (18-7), rebounds (64-43), and forced the visitors into 24 turnovers.
Yasmeen Smith once again had a terrific performance, scoring a game high 17 points and a game high 15 rebounds, along with three steals and three assists.
"Yasmeen's toughness is definitely growing and it's showing. Teams are going to play her a lot more physical; she's seen double teams today and even saw some triple teams," Bobb said. "But she played through a lot of the physical play and that's what she's going to have to do. We're trying to make a run into the playoffs so she's got to find a way to mentally break through that and still achieve the goals that she has."
Mariam Konate had 10 points, three steals and a game high five assists.
But it was the duo of Ta and Bethany Miller who stole the show, each scoring 15 points on a combined seven of 11 from three point land. Ta hit three of her seven threes while Miller was perfect on her four attempts.
"Credit to Beth and Judy for staying confident; they've had a tough season shooting. But they're both incredible shooters and they're staying disciplined in terms of being ready to shoot," Bobb said. "And their teammates are doing a good job setting good screens for them and dribble penetration is helping them to get open looks. The guards are doing a really good job of moving the ball and getting them touches in places where they can be effective."
Dayna Snowdon and Anna Jaworowicz each had 10 points for the Grizzlies in defeat.
Smith had eight points and three rebounds while Miller hit two threes off of the bench as Centennial took an 18-9 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, Centennial, capped off by another triple from Miller, started on a 10-3 run and led 28-12 with just under seven minutes left until half. But Georgian closed out the quarter on a 14-4 run and only trailed 32-26 heading into intermission.
Snowdon scored the first six points for the Grizzlies to start off the second half as they were trailing by just two (36-34) more than halfway through the quarter. However, a triple from Konate from the corner sparked an 18-4 run to close out the third as the hosts took a 54-38 lead heading into the final quarter. Konate had seven in the frame while Smith had six.
"Offense picked up but I think our offense started because of our defense," Bobb said. "We started to get runouts again, we started to compete on the defensive end and rebound the ball, and that led to us getting some easier shots."
Georgian cut the lead to 14 but Centennial put the game out of reach with 12 unanswered points, as Ta hit two triples during that stretch. From there on out, they coasted to their second straight win.
Centennial now has an opportunity to go over .500 for the first time this season when they face the Algonquin Thunder on Saturday Feb. 3.
"It's a tough gym to win in and we know that every time we go there, it's going to be a tough night of competition. There's no easy game in this league, especially on the road," Bobb said. "We just got to stay disciplined and stick to our defensive principles, move the ball, and continue to play the way that we want to play. With a young team, we just need to focus on the things we need to be well and I think we'll be successful if we do that."
UP NEXT: Centennial heads to Ottawa to face the Thunder on a rare Saturday evening game. Tipoff is at 6:00pm.