Holy Angels Win Varsity Division Crown in the 2009 Edition
Ursuline Takes JV Bracket Title
by Jim Charles & Tom Dunn
February 2009
Any follower of CYM girls ball has to be familiar with the Sherwood Park Shootout tournament held at St. John the Beloved this time each year. Many of the finest high school players, past and present, have participated in the event, including the likes of Elena Delle Donne, Khadijah Rushdan and Symone Woody. The games are surrounded in a festive atmosphere that combines on-court playoff intensity with summer carnival family fun in the stands. Kids even have their own seating area on the stage in the gym. All sorts of delicious food items are available at very reasonable prices. The gym itself, while not large and cavernous, nevertheless can handle quite a good-sized crowd, as is evidenced even in the early rounds of the tournament.
Varsity Division
Repeat after me, "Holy Angels is very good this year." While we did not interview any of their opposing teams' coaches, we're pretty confident that those 7 words (or something very similar) were uttered by most of them as the tournament progressed. And when you're talking Holy Angels, the use of the word "very" becomes commonplace. Very composed. Very talented. Very well-coached. And most importantly when it comes to winning titles, very deep. In the semi-finals, 9 (out of 11) Angel players scored. Six of those had more than 2 points. All this in a convincing win over Ursuline, 43 - 25. Leading the way offensively that night were Haley Schweizer (10 points), former iPOW winner, Sabrina Hackendorn (9 points), Claudia Seemans and Leigh Ann Lennon, both with 6 points.
There are more wonderful players on the Holy Angels roster than you can shake a stick at, but perhaps the most attention-getting one is the aforementioned Hackendorn. This is a girl who double-doubles in more games than most players at this level even score a point in. She's that good. A rebounding machine. And a fine touch for the basket. In the semis, she had 9 points. In the finals, she had 12........in the first quarter! She would finish the night with 18, leading all scorers. For her troubles, she would take home a team trophy and a Tournament Most Valuable Player Award.
Haley Schweizer is another to keep your eye on. Her consistency was admirable. She had 9 in the finals to go with her 10 in the semis. Leigh Ann Lennon chipped in 14 in the finals, a tally second only to Hackendorn, and was a real force at both ends. Players like Lennon and Schweizer create real dilemmas for opposing coaches who would just love to throw all their resources at Hackendorn. In the end, all you can do is play Holy Angels straight up and hope for the best.
The runner-up St. John the Beloved varsity had really impressed us in their semi-final win over St. Elizabeth's, 52 - 36. Perhaps not as deep as Holy Angels, they nevertheless have a starting five that can stand with anybody. In the semis, point guard Hailey Lawler had an other-worldly 22 point performance. The single best individual offensive effort we witnessed during the whole tournament. Also contributing big time was Jenna Wolff who had 12. A smidge behind her was Liz Bates with 11. We love the way this girl shoots!
In the loss to Holy Angels in the finals, the Eagle offense faced a lot of challenges. First off was a disappointing 1st quarter that saw St. John's fall behind in the score 19 - 8. The final tally, 56 - 45, would preserve the 11 point margin of defeat. ...Meaning that after the first quarter, the game was essentially a tie. In the losing effort, Jenna Wolff was inspiring with 15 points. Lawler had 9. Kathleen Moore had 6. But there were a lot of missed shots, and that really was the key to the game.
JV Division
It could be said that St. John the Beloved teams live by the motto, "There's no place like home." Both the JV and Varsity Finals featured the home Eagles as participants. Such has been the case in the varsity bracket 6 of the last 8 years and in the JV bracket 3 of the last 5 years. And, no, it has little to do with easy scheduling and a lot to do with talent. Maybe you can have an easy time of it in the opening round, but as the tournament wears on, the competitive level comes up appreciably. By the time the semi-finals roll around, only the big boys (or should we say, girls?) remain. So, just getting to the finals is a big deal in itself.
The path to the finals for St. John's JV#1 team saw them score victories over St. Mary the Assumption and St. Elizabeth's. For their finals opponents, Ursuline Academy, the trek saw Raider wins over IHM and Holy Angels -- the latter an exciting 30 - 27 win in overtime. The finals would also prove to be a tight contest, ending in a title for UA by a 31 - 28 score.
Big scorers in the game for SJB included Brittany Walls with 7 points, Kaitlyn Wolff with 6, Claire Igo with 5, and Megan Mallon with 4 (4-for-6 from the free throw line). Claire Igo leads the team on the court from the 1-guard position. Hardnosed, cool under pressure, and a very nice shooter, Claire follows in the long tradition of great point guards to come out of this program. Brittany Walls plays in the front court, but also displays guard skills and can shoot the three.
The Raiders' attack included the following performances: Miranda Schiccatano, 7 points; Maddie Hughes, 6 points; Courtney Wallace, 5 points; and Aria DiLiberto and Lindsay Russell with 4 each. Courtney Wallace is as fun a player to watch as any. Just a real cool customer at point. Miranda Schiccatano's name may not be a household word right now, but it likely will be before long. She won -- most deservedly so -- the JV Division Tournament MVP Award. She brings a real blue collar attitude to her work as a post player. High school coaches are already taking note of her. And Maddie Hughes. Of all the players in the whole tournament, Hughes was, to our eyes, the scrappiest. "Scrappy Maddie", is what they'd call her if we had our way! Gotta love the way this girl plays the game!
Early Round Action
Even the players, who are always the focus of the tournament, sometimes get caught up in the fun!
Colleen Behan and Lauren Crouse share a happy moment.
Tip-off of a first round game between St. John the Beloved and St. Mary of the Assumption, JV Division (5th/6th grades).
Kaitlynn Wolff looks to inbound. She made 3 free-throws in the game while only missing 1.
Kristin Green lines up her free throw.
Emily Thiemann goes strong to the hoop. She had 3 points on the night.
We don't know exactly what was going on here, but this group of kids had a great time with one of the refs.
Taylor Hazewski and Brittany Walls wait for the rebound. Taylor would end up leading her team in this game with 6 points. Brittany had 3 (on a very impressive 3-pointer) for SJB.
Megan Mallon is a nice up-and-coming talent for the St. John's Eagles. Here she goes in for a layup. She had 3 points in her team's game versus St. Mary's JV.
Aerial view of first quarter, first round varsity (7th/8th grade) action between St. John's & St. Mary's.
St. Mary's Jessica Reynolds was a real handful. She led all scorers with 15 points in her team's losing effort to St. John the Beloved (01/31/09).
...And here she is on the line.
St. Mary's Laura Hurff braces herself for contact from St. John's Hailey Lawler.
Danielle Grimes is forced to deal with defensive intensity from Neelam Modi. Stephanie Davis (#3) lays ready in the background to help Modi if needed. Grimes paced the Eagle offense with 14 points. She also scored at least 2 points in every quarter!
Point Guard extraordinaire, Hailey Lawler, catches her breath during a St. Mary's free-throw attempt.
Lawler would end up with 13 points in the game from the 1-guard position.
Neelam Modi scored 4 points for the Hawks. Neelam is a hard worker who I'm sure we'll see more of in seasons to come.
This is not the first time that St. John's Jenna Wolff (#14) has made an appearance on this website. (She was covered last spring playing AAU ball, as well as last winter for the Eagles.) In this first round matchup, she contributed 8 points to the Gold & Black cause.
She may not be in high school just yet, but she sure plays like it!
St. John's Hailey Lawler.