HAWKS CONTINUE TO SOAR AFTER DOMINANT WIN
| 4th - 0:00 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Clair | 14 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 66 |
|
Humber | 16 | 18 | 22 | 23 | 79 |
By: Eugerio Garro
ETOBICOKE, On: The Humber Hawks women's basketball team (14-0, 1st West) took advantage of 22 points from Natalie Hagopian, to defeat the St. Clair Saints 79-66.
The undefeated Hawks continued their run at a perfect season Saturday afternoon in what was a close game up until the fourth quarter.
The Hawks came into this game a perfect 13-0 and taking on a Saints team who were 7-3 in their last ten games and were coming off a loss in their last matchup.
The Hawks 34-28 first half lead was due to the fact they played to their strengths, which for the most part was moving the ball around and finding shots in the paint.
On defence, the Hawks did a good job blocking off lanes, which didn't allow the Saints to drive to the rim. However the Hawks struggled to take away the open shots from beyond the arc, which was where most of the Saints first half points came from.
"There was a stretch in the second quarter where we kind of just got careless defensively," said Hawks head coach Ajay Sharma, who acknowledged he thought his team would pull away a lot earlier than the fourth quarter.
The Hawks came out in the third quarter on fire but the Saints kept responding with buckets of their own. Hawks Hagopian, who was the team's leading scorer at the break came out and hit some clutch threes to keep Humber on top.
After three quarters, the Hawks kept hitting shots and maintained their lead but the Saints continued to hang around. Heading into the fourth quarter the Hawks led by a score of 56-46.
The fourth quarter is where the Hawks play some of their best ball and on Saturday afternoon it continued. The girls battled hard and began to run away with this game as their offence and defence was too much for the Saints to handle for four quarters.
"In the second half the defence was the difference," added Coach Sharma. "We buckled down and guarded their actions, guarded their personnel and created a really tough environment for them to score."
At the end of it all, the Hawks improved to a perfect 14-0 on the season and 7-2 over their last nine games against the Saints.
First-year guard Felicia Velasquez had a big game on the boards for Humber. The Brampton native set a career-high with 12 rebounds in the win, doubling her previous high of six.
Thornhill native Natalie Hagopian finished with a game-high 22 points and was also named Hawk Nation player of the game.
The Hawks next game is Sunday when they take on Lambton College at Humber. Tip off is at 1 p.m.
All Hawks home games are free to the public and also streamed live online. If you are unable to attend Sunday's game against Lambton, scroll down to the bottom of the home page and click on the "WATCH NOW" link or click on the link below:
