Under-19 Niagara Rangers capture provincial bronze medal

Though his Under-19 Rangers girls basketball team came home from Kingston after winning provincial bronze last weekend, coach Shawn Pylypiw laments a late game collapse that kept them from competing for a different coloured medal.

After knocking off the Toronto Lords and the Grimsby Grizzlies, the Rangers fought hard in game three of pool play against the Huntsville Hurricanes for three quarters. But the Hurricanes pulled away in the fourth en route to a 67-36 victory at the Queen’s University gymnasium. 

“We hung in with them for most of the game,” Pylypiw tells The Local about the Saturday afternoon game. “We were only down by five when we entered the fourth quarter, but then the wheels fell off. They were a really well-coached, skilled team, and we kind of imploded at the end.” 

The Rangers kicked off the Ontario Basketball Association (OBA) Division Four tournament Friday night with a hard fought 55-40 win over the Toronto Lords Friday night. Ava Froese led the way with 17 points, while Kyla Pylypiw added eight for the winning squad. 

“Kyla was fighting through a bad cold,” says Pylypiw of his daughter. “Ava was a force on both ends of the court, too. She dominated the glass with her rebounding and shot-blocking the entire game. And her leadership both on the court and from on the bench was a big factor.” 

Pylypiw also credits the defensive efforts and play-making skills of Mikayla Wallace and Tiana Hicks as crucial to the strong start in their weekend quest to better the team’s second-place finish in 2022 as an Under-17 team. Melia Kotsanis also contributed with her vocal presence on the floor. 

The strong start continued Saturday morning against Grimsby, a familiar opponent from just a few kilometres away on the QEW. The back and forth game saw many lead changes, but the Rangers came out on top 53-45. 

Again, Froese led the way with 16 points, while Amy Venneri stepped up with some defensive hustle, making some key stops and adding 10 points of her own. 

“Our girls battled through some poor execution and some bad calls that went the other way,” says Pylypiw. “But they found their stride when they needed to, and began to pull away in the fourth quarter. It was like they found the next gear. Melia was a force again, she really stepped up her game and shut down Grimsby on defence.” 

After Saturday afternoon’s disappointing game three loss to Huntsville, who finished pool play 3-0 and went on to win OBA gold against Brantford, the Rangers had to regroup for the bronze medal game scheduled for Sunday at noon against Ancaster. 

It was another back and forth contest that saw Ancaster take a seven point lead in the fourth quarter. But Wallace drained back-to-back three point shots to keep the Rangers in the mix. That gave the rest of the team added confidence on the way to capturing the bronze with a thrilling 44-42 win.

“We made some adjustments in the fourth quarter,” Pylypiw explains. “We transitioned from a zone to a man defence and that helped a lot. In the last six minutes they all dug deep and worked really hard on both ends. And they ignored the taunting from Ancaster to focus on their own game.”

The Rangers went up by four points with just over a minute remaining in the game. Ancaster then shifted to a full court press and closed the gap to two, but the Rangers answered quickly with two points of their own. After another bucket by Ancaster, Niagara regained the ball with 17 seconds remaining.

“I just told them to hold the ball and play keepaway,” Pylypiw says. “They did a great job of that, they didn’t look to score, they just killed the clock to close it out for the win.”

Froese once again led the way with 14 points and continued her dominance under the boards. Wallace added 13 points and Kotsanis chipped in with six. Pylypiw adds that Kotsanis forced a number of turnovers in the defensive zone and was instrumental in moving the ball up the court in the transition to offence, and Venneri added some strong play on defence.

“I’m so proud of the way these girls played,” Pylypiw says. “It was such a good feeling to win bronze, actually a better feeling than last year, because you have to win to get bronze, whereas to get the silver, you have to lose your last game. It may be a lesser medal, but it feels better to be victorious in that game.”

That feeling is especially important for at least three of the Rangers who played their final game with the club Sunday. Wallace, Venneri and Emilia Ciocca have all aged out of the Rangers system and will be ineligible to play next year. Point guard Wallace has earned a spot on the Niagara College Knights women’s basketball team for 2023-2024.

“I have a close connection with Mikayla,” Pylypiw says. “I’ve been coaching her for a while now. It’s hard to see her go but I’m happy she’ll be playing at the next level. I look forward to going to watch her play whenever I can.”

Pylypiw is counting on a strong core of players to be back next year for another run at OBA gold at the U19 age group. Key Rangers such as Kyla and Froese will return, while Morgan Lambert, Karlyn Coveney and Mikhaila Marshall will earn more floor time. And he’s counting on Hicks, Kotsanis and Jailah Gabbidon to fill in for the loss of Wallace at the all-important point guard position.

“We were lucky to have four higher-end point guards that we could turn to,” he says. “They were very interchangeable, we could give Mikayla a rest any time and not give up ground. That was a definite asset to our team.”

All the same, Pylypiw admits there will be some holes to fill, and is hoping to pick up a few players before things get going next December. And he is also hoping the team can move out of Port Weller Public School and back into the Crossroads School gym for their practices next year.