The Grey Area: Heritage Woods vs. Charles Best

Heritage Woods Kodiaks v Charles Best Blue Devils

December 9, 2023

In this 5th place game on the girls side of the No Regrets Tournament we had the unusual situation where both teams were wearing either all grey or predominantly grey. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds thanks to the navy tops on the Charles Best players.

In the early going CB’s senior Hannah (note the palindrome) Brar used her length to confound the Woodsters down low with shot blocks, rendering a slow start to the scoring. Late in the quarter a steal by Best’s Elizabeth Fast ended up sending her to the line where she drained both free throws using an old-school two-handed shot. Well done! 14-9 and the end of Q1 for the scientists.

Best’s Bianka Mazan drained a trey to open Q2. As for Heritage Woods they implemented some slick passing around the perimeter trying to get the open shot and avoiding having to contend with Brar’s long arms down low. But it wasn’t just Brar – Best also had the twin towers of Avin Jahangiri and Jessica Parkinson to block the sunlight from the key. Parkinson showed that she could do more than clog up the key by hitting a corner three to take the score to 27-13 for Best. Brar also contributed by rebounding and scoring off of those captures.

Meanwhile, at the point guard position Best’s grade 10 Malaya Barroso darted around at consistently high speed stealing the ball on defence and directing the offence. She layed the ball up lefty demonstrating that if she is coming at you, then you had better turn early to go with her or she would blow right by you. Heritage had their best guard on her in Anita Tavaszi but the challenge remained. For her part Tavaszi was a fearless attacker of the basket but was not as successful in this game as she no doubt normally is. But she is quick and confident and a leader for the Woods.

Halftime Score: 28-17 for Best.

Halftime question: Why are devils in sports always blue? The name comes from the French “les Diables Bleus” which was the nickname given in World War I to the French alpine light infantry.

Denise Mendoza made her presence felt for the scientists with a sweet jumper followed by a three and in between those was a steal by Barroso who anticipated the chance and which led to a team finish. The score at then end of Q3 was 39-25 for the alpine light infantry.

The Kodiaks were kept under pressure by Best leading to a couple of shot clock violations. More steals and fast-break scores by Best preserved their lead while Tavaszi did her best to keep the Kodiaks close. The score in Q4 was 10-8 for Best, the closest of any quarter.

Final score: Charles Best 49, Heritage Woods 33

Player of the Game: Best’s Bianka Mazan with a team high 13 pts.

High scorer for Heritage Woods was Anita Tavaszi with 12.