Lancers make quick work of Maroons

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This article was published 13/03/2024 (913 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Dakota Lancers were hungry for a three-peat and weren’t about to be denied another trip to the provincial AAAA varsity girls basketball championship final.

And so, with Grade 12 forward Darya Rom pouring in 29 points and Grade 11 guard Taylor Schepp adding 27 more, the top-ranked Lancers upended the fourth-seeded Daniel McIntyre Maroons 115-60 in provincial semifinal action at Investors Group Athletic Centre Wednesday night.

“We played really well but I think that’s the dangerous thing about our team — if I have a bad night, somebody else is gonna step up,” said Schepp, who had 21 of her points as the Lancers raced out to a 69-29 halftime lead. “We always have the next threat ready.”

Izzi Fust, recently named the province’s best player in the Free Press coaches’ poll, chipped in with 23 points, 14 rebounds, six steals, three assists and one block.

“It was a lot about how we prepare mentally, knowing that every game is going to be difficult from now on,” said Rom, who added five rebounds, one block and a steal. “It was one of those things where we couldn’t take it for granted and treated it like any other game that we needed to win.”

The two-time defending provincial champs advanced to Monday’s varsity girls final against the Garden City Gophers.

The No. 2 Gophers, 74-67 winners over the third-seeded Vincent Massey Trojans in the late semifinal, were Dakota’s opponent in the 2023 championship game.

Rom, like Fust and guard Abby Sweeny, will be making their third consecutive appearance in the title game.

“I think it definitely calms the nerves down a little bit knowing what the environment is going to be like,” said Rom. “But every year I tend to prepare for it the same way and know that it’s still one of the big games. Just because I’ve been here before doesn’t mean it’s going to be easier for me.”

The Maroons were led by guards Ava Shaw and Francheska Castro, who scored 18 and 14 points, respectively.

“We practise hard and we truly believed with this group that we could give Dakota a run for their money,” said Maroons coach Bethany Balaktsis.

“I don’t think this is the last time you’ll see us. They’re really hard-working. We have some really good players who are only in Grade 10 (Shaw and Maya Francisco) and I think they’ll bring us back here (to the final four).”

Gophers 74 Trojans 67

Massey led 19-18 after the first quarter but Garden City took control of the game in the fourth quarter.

Guard Madison Schettler’s three-pointer and follow-up two gave the Gophers a 63-50 edge with 6:33 left. It was a deficit the Trojans never recovered from.

Schettler, who finished with 14 points, added another three-pointer with a minute remaining to give Garden City a 72-65 edge.

“The girls worked hard all season and our goal was to get to the final four and to get to the provincial final,” said Gophers head coach Roberto Campanella Jr. “It’s our second time for the varsity program at G.C., so we’re happy to be there. We’re just hoping we can put up a fight (on Monday).”

Amira Lawrence had 12 points for the winners, while teammate Taya Clark added 11 more.

Keara Howden and Paige Schatkowsky had 15 and 11 points, respectively, for Massey.

“They’re bigger than us and at the beginning they were more physical, they wanted the ball more than we did,” said Campanella. “But we kind of adjusted in the second half. I told the girls that in order for us to win this game, we had to bring the game to them. Kudos to our girls — being undersized.

“We just matched their physicality and we’re just happy we came up with the win.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca