Prairie River’s Rae Anne Gill, left, keeps the basketball away from St. Andrew’s player Daisy Porisky during first quarter action Feb. 15. St. Andrew’s clinched first place with a 30-20 win.

Chris Clegg
South Peace News
Last year, the St. Andrew’s Saints girl’s basketball team won their first league title.

This year, they are marching toward a second after clinching first place after a 30-20 home court win over the Prairie River Raiders.

In doing so, the 9-1 Saints completed a season series sweep over the arch-rival Raiders [6-3] in Smoky River Junior High School Basketball League Girl’s Division play.

The Raiders were playing without four of their top five scorers as many players were preparing for the annual Science Fair the next day. The result was predictable as the Saints used a suffocating defence to win. The Saints only surrendered 121 points in eight actual games played this season, or just slightly over 15 points per game.

The Raiders led 4-2 after a low-scoring first quarter, but the Saints began to score in the second quarter with seven points to take a 9-8 lead.
The Saints outgunned the Raiders 8-2 in the third quarter and 13-10 in the fourth.

Seven different Saints scored led by Daisy Porisky’s 10 and Rhys MacIntosh with eight. Macey Shaw added four points while Ella Deering, Finn Marko, Mai Mai Tabula and Katrina Gauchier each added two points.

The Raiders also had seven players score but no one with more than the four points each by Mackenzie Calhoon, Kaitlyn Jong and Joslin Gladue.
Two-point baskets were added by Malakae Sharkawi, Rae Anne Gill, Rachelle Lemay and Naomi Strebchuk.

The Saints have completed their schedule while the Raiders will host the Gift Lake Hurricanes Feb. 22.