Rangers Under-19 girls take silver in York Region tournament

The Niagara Rangers shook off the rust of a long stretch with no games by capturing second place recently at the IEM Girls Basketball Invitational in Newmarket.

Coach Shawn Pylypiw tells The Local that a number of his team’s scheduled games and tournaments in the past few weeks had been cancelled, so the girls were chomping at the bit to get back onto the court. They did so in convincing fashion, but also came up against a formidable foe in a team from Brampton. 

Twenty teams from across the province competed in the junior age division, with the Rangers placed in A/AA division against teams from Brampton, Gloucester-
Cumberland, Toronto and Scarborough. 

They tipped off Saturday at noon against the Gloucester-Cumberland Basketball Association Wolverines, coming out strong to take a 22-4 lead in the first quarter. But the Rangers let their feet off the gas in the second, allowing the Wolverines to claw their way back into the game. A strong fourth quarter, with 12 points scored and some great hustle defensively by Melania Kotsanis sealed the opening game win, 48-32, for Niagara. Ava Froese led the Rangers with 16 points and Mikayla Wallace added 14.

There wasn’t much time for the team to rest, as game two was scheduled for 3 p.m. And it was a much different story competition-
wise. 

The Rangers faced an aggressive attack by the IEM Spartans out of Brampton. They lost 62-33, with Pylypiw actually calling the game off when one of his players was hammered roughly to the ground by an opponent. It was a style of play the girls weren’t ready for.

“They were violent and foul-mouthed,” Pylypiw said of the Spartans. “They got into our girls’ heads, and took us out of our game. They were even high-fiving each other when our girls went down with injuries. It really shook us up.”

The Rangers didn’t have much time to lick their wounds, though, as they were scheduled to be back on the court at 6 p.m. Saturday to face the Scarborough Blues, a team Pylypiw and the Rangers knew well. The Blues had defeated Niagara in the gold medal game at the 2022 Ontario Basketball Association finals.

“We really bounced back as a team,” Pylypiw says. “We had a great all-around game, everyone worked hard, and we even had a chance to apply some new aspects to our system, and it worked well.” 

The Rangers came out on top 59-36, led by a 21-point performance from Froese, 16 from Wallace, and 10 points from Kyla Pylypiw. 

On Sunday afternoon the Rangers put their 2-1 record on the line against the Toronto Lords with a chance to qualify for the gold medal game at 4:30 p.m. And they had to do it with only nine of their 13 players. 

Another strong start saw Niagara up by 12 early in the game, but Toronto fought back in the second half to close the gap to a single point. The Rangers were able to hold on, even with some of their key players missing, for a close 37-33 victory.  

For the championship game the shorthanded Rangers had to go up against IEM Brampton again. The Spartans had cruised to an undefeated record, winning by margins of 16, 29 and 46 points. 

“They pressed us all game, even when up by 35 points against us,” Pylypiw says, incredulously. “And their parents kept cheering every single basket they made like it was the biggest game of their career.”

Again, the Spartans played a physical style of basketball, knocking the Rangers to the floor often and forcing a couple more players out of the game. Niagara ended up on the wrong side of an 87-35 score, but Pylypiw was proud of his squad for their hard work and the fact that they kept their cool while facing more rough play. Ava Froese was named the team’s most valuable player for the tournament.

“Ending up with the trophy for silver was some consolation,” Pylypiw says, “but that team was in a different class than everyone in our division. They probably should have been playing up in the next division.”

At press time, Pylypiw was expecting the Rangers to be back in action this Thursday night against the Grimsby Grizzlies.