Heritage Woods' Mean Leads Them to Win over Handsworth Royals

Heritage Woods Kodiaks v. Handsworth Royals

December 10, 2022

It was “bearly” raining as the battle of the bears broke out on a bleak west coast day. The consolation finals was between the Handsworth Royals in blue and the Heritage Woods Kodiaks in white. Both teams were disappointed to not be in the finals. The Royals who were the “visiting” team were eager to defend their home court that was still sporting that new car smell. The ladies were working with tired legs and bumps and bruises after 3 games in as many days, but were ready to rise to the occasion.

After feeling each other out in the early stages of Q1, #9 in blue Bryn Chubb converted an early drive countered by a 3 pointer that hit the mark from the Kodiaks Kate Mean who was clearly the leader of the charge for the Kodiaks. She closed out the quarter following up a 3 point try with an offensive rebound and a basket in the paint. Kodiaks were ahead 9-8 after the first quarter of play.

Speaking of #22, Kate Mean came out firing after the quick break. After she set up her teammate #21 Izzy Lloyd with a dead centre 3 pointer, she followed it up with another 3 of her own. That stretched the Kodiaks lead to 9. A little “Mean” if you ask me… The Royals were staying in it with points coming from Alejandra Delgado, Anna Kanwischer and a determined Bryn Chubb. It was hard to close the lead with Anita Tavazi of the Kodiaks getting a rare 4 point play drawing a foul from behind the arc and clutching up from the line. Heritage Woods closed out the half with 2 baskets from Bahar Ebrahimi who snuck behind the Royals’ defence. Although it was a back and forth affair, Heritage woods built up a sizeable, but not unsurmountable, lead: 32-18.

Halftime thought: My halftime thoughts wondered over to the ageless Vern Porter coaching the Royals’ girls. Not to date myself, but when I graduated over 15 years ago, Mr. Porter was already well into his coaching career. I hazard a guess that nearly 1000 students have become better players and people from his wisdom on the sidelines. Vern embodies the Quinn Keast spirit and his time has been a gift to North Vancouver athletics.

Q3: The back and forth play with hard-nosed defence continued or even escalated in the 3rd quarter.  Royals Anna Kanwischer executed an aggressive steal and a fast break followed up with a nice assist after gathering a loose ball. Blue was showing some nice ball movement in the o-zone but having difficulty finishing. Ava Taylor for the Kodiaks with a couple of great drives to the net kept the Royals from closing the gap. Heritage Park maintained their lead going into the 4th quarter.

Q$: Brooklyn Joly for the Royals continued her strong play off the bench. After a first try from the foul line, she showed her true skill and chased it up perfect over her next 3 tries. The ladies were earning the cow-bell while cutting the lead to 9. Tired legs led to some scrambled play in the 4th frame. The Kodiaks were finding ways to get to the net a little easier. The girls in blue responded immediately after their Coach Cam Nelson called a timeout with 5 minutes to play. Points from Chubb and Delgado were keeping Handsworth’s hope alive for a late run. Another basket by Bryn Chubb at the buzzer closed the gap but was not enough to beat the Kodiaks.

The ladies shook hands with the scoreboard reading 59-44 for the “home” team in white. Congratulation on a hard earned 5th place for the pride of Port Moody, Heritage Park, and thank you to the players coaches and referees for an entertaining game. Player of the game went to Kate Mean who played well on both ends of the court.

Final score: Heritage Woods 59, Handsworth Royals 44