(GIRLS) McMath's size and speed too much for Handsworth in opening round

Handsworth vs McMath Senior Girls Basketball

Written by Rahim Pendleton

A scintillating matchup between the host Handsworth Royals Senior Girls and BC’s #1 ranked AAA McMath Wildcats ends an exciting first day of the No Regrets Tournament’s first day back in action in nearly 2 years. A fast-paced start to the game sees the Wildcats get out to a quick start with some full court pressure capped by back-to-back layups by Canadian U16 National Team member Marina Rodocaj and senior guard Kee Hohlweg. As the Royals struggle out of the gate, the onslaught continues as the pressure from the Wildcats helps them jump out to an 8-0 lead with the 6’2 Radocaj looking like a modern-day Magic Johnson by dishing out a couple nifty assists despite being the tallest player on the floor.

An early timeout by Royal’s head coach Lianna Rushworth can’t stop the bleeding despite a huge block by Anna Kanwischer, as the rebound falls into the hands of the Wildcats for a quick 3 to extend the lead to 11-0. Radocaj continues to showcase her passing ability with multiple long passes in transition to get her teammates easy layups and push the lead out to 19-0. Some hard work by the Royal’s guards sees an open look finally go down for the Royals to get them on the board but the quarter ends with another driving foray into the paint by Wildcats guard Kee Hohlweg to end the quarter with the Wildcats up 23-2.

The Handsworth Royals come out with some aggressive defense to force a couple of early turnovers and score a quick 5 points before the Wildcats return the favor with a couple of steals of their own to stretch their lead back out to 21 points. Transition defense will surely be the topic of Coach Rushworth’s halftime talk as the Royals can’t seem to keep up with the Wildcats frenzied attack in the open floor that has the Wildcats up 46-9 at the halftime break.

Halftime Fact: McMath’s Marina Radocaj is the sister of Victor Radocaj, who is currently playing for the NCAA Division 1 Eastern Washington Eagles – the Radocaj ties run deep at McMath as father, Zoran, is also an assistant coach for the team.

A sloppy start to the 3rd quarter by both teams sees numerous turnovers and missed attempts with a scoreless first 5 minutes but the Wildcats regain their form with a couple of silky smooth pull-up jumpers from Caitlin Kippan and Quincy Hinds before Claire Ambrozic ignites the Royals crowd with back-to-back buckets of her own. The raucous defense chants from the Royals bench can’t help the defense on the floor as the Wildcats reassert the dominance that they’ve held all game, and find themselves with a 59-13 lead through 3 quarters.

The Royals are not done fighting as they start the fourth quarter with quick baskets from senior Sabrina Park and Claire Ambrozic but continue to struggle with transition defense that sees consecutive steals and baskets from McMath’s Teagan Ng and Kee Holhweg. Holhweg has been all over the floor tonight and has been instrumental in leading the Wildcats attack in transition and in the paint. A hard-fought battle from the home team Royals, but ultimately the Wildcats length, size and speed in transition proved to be the difference in securing the victory for the Wildcats tonight

Player of the Game #11 Kee Hohlweg.