By: Kajan Thiruthanikasalam
After a long and winding offseason in which a total of 11 recruits were introduced, the Centennial Colts women’s basketball team made their much-anticipated preseason debut against the Niagara Knights Tuesday evening.
And despite the Colts being on the losing end of an 88-85 decision, veteran guard Cori Browne and head coach Justin Bobb were encouraged by what transpired during the game.
“We’re hungry. We have a good group of recruits and we’re all just gelling,” Browne, who finished with 17 points, said. “Our energy has just been amazing on and off the court and that’s just going to support us all season.”
“Overall, what you just saw was a culture change,” Bobb said. “You saw the style of play that we want to play this year, which is playing quick, getting more possessions and shots at the rim.”
Browne, in her first game back since missing the second half of the season due to respiratory health, says she felt good to be back on the court.
“Working hard over the summer and getting back into shape,” Browne said about what she did to get back to the grind. “Seeing the girls go to battle and watching them (from the bench last season) hurt.”
Beyonce Hosang was exceptional in her first game as a Colt, leading the team with 20 points while Janai Menzes dropped 18 before fouling out, including nine in the first quarter.
“Janai (Menzes) is a big addition; she doesn’t say much but she shows a lot on the court,” Bobb said. “And what a first game in the OCAA for a freshman (in Hosang). Her confidence and ability to pick her spots as a young player was good to watch.”
The biggest takeaway from Bobb came with the offense, which dropped 85 points overall, easily passing any game total from last season. And it came with balanced scoring with four players in double figures; veteran guard Judy Ta had 15.
“There’s nothing more that you could ask for than a tight game with a great home crowd,” Bobb said. “We’ll bounce back. The last 3:30 of the game was when we didn’t execute too well but great game overall.”
The Knights had three players in double figures scoring led by Kaisen MacKinnon’s 33 points. Alannah Yates had 19 while Jessyka Maliksi had eight of her 11 points in the fourth quarter.
“With a young team, the effort was amazing (defensively). The execution wasn’t,” Bobb said. “A lot of straight line drives from Niagara; we gave them 29 free throws with 10 of them coming in the fourth quarter.”
Niagara got Centennial on its heels to start off the game, going up by seven early on. But the Colts engineered a 17 point turnaround in the quarter alone, with the strength of 11 straight points to close the first quarter as they went up, 31-21.
Centennial extended their lead to 14 after a triple from the corner by rookie Katryze Magdaong but Niagara used the strength of a 10-0 run to come back and eventually take a 46-44 lead at the half. MacKinnon led all scorers with 20 first half points.
Ta and Browne then both heated up in the third quarter, combining for 13 points during that frame as the Colts outscored the Knights, 22-15, to take a 66-61 lead heading into the home stretch.
Both sides went back and forth throughout much of that fourth quarter as Hosang scored six points in the quarter and the home side held a 84-80 lead with three minutes to go. But the Colts could only muster one point the rest of the way as the Knights closed out the game on a 8-1 run to steal the game.
As the preseason rolls around and the home-opening showdown on October 18 against the George Brown Huskies inches ever closer, the Colts look to prepare themselves for that moment when it comes.
“October 18 is certainly circled on my calendar; George Brown is a tough opponent,” Bobb said. “I just want to see what we saw tonight, which was a positive team culture and everybody’s buying into the system. The goal is to get our execution sharper before our home opener.”
The Lady Colts will be back in action at the Athletic and Wellness Centre on Wednesday, October 9, when they face off against the Mohawk Mountaineers. Tip off is at 6:00pm.