Early pressure proved the difference in Burnaby South’s win over New Westminster in BurWest high school girls’ basketball.
South built up an 18-point half-time lead and then held on for a 77-69 victory over the non-ranked Hyack girls in a district league game at Massey gym on Wednesday.
The AAA No. 9-ranked Rebels made no secret with how they would try to dictate the game.
Pressuring New West down low, South made numerous points off turnovers all game long that ultimately proved the biggest difference in the outcome.
“We don’t break a press really well. I knew it was coming,” said New West head coach Doug Woodward.
But despite the pressure, New West held its own for the first five minutes of the game and trailed 13-12.
But South’s first-quarter persistance led to a 16-2 run to close the opening frame.
The Rebels kept up the momentum with Desiree Lister and Jasmine Manhas doing much of the damage with nine and 13 first-half points, respectively.
Manhas led all scorers with 28 points, while Lister, the rebound leader in the game, got 14.
Ana Lukic and Amie Morrison also chipped in with double-digit games for South.
Amanda Zacharuk led the Hyacks with 11 points, while junior callups Madisen Obrovac and Justice Steer finished with 10 and nine points apiece.
“We should have won by more,” said South’s Manhas. “We are all really good athletes. We can all push it.”
And the Rebels needed that intensity in the second half, as New West staged rallies that ultimately made the final outcome less than the overall play indicated.
South capitalized all game long on its pressure that led to scores of points off turnovers.
Lukic potted back-to-back buckets to stave off one late Hyack rally.
Morrison also nailed one of her two three-pointers in the fourth quarter.
But it was Manhas who led the charge at both ends of the floor, scoring seven key points in the final frame.
With a short bench and a reliance on maintaining a frenetic tempo on offence and defence, the onus is on South’s starting lineup to stay out of foul trouble. It’s a sometime risky strategy.
But, in what turned out to be a much closer outcome than the first half may have indicated, New Westminster got 32 points off the bench, including 28 from junior callups in the BurWest district league matchup.
After ending the first half trailing 42-24, New Westminster came back to outscore South in both the third and fourth quarters, including 24-18 in the final stanza.
Steer nailed one of her three three-pointers of the half to shave the deficit to under double figures at the eight-minute mark. The Grade 10 guard potted her third trey from the perimetre and Obrovac scored on a running jumper with two minutes remaining on the clock to trail South 74-66.
But in the end, South’s relentless pursuit to the ball and tireless defence kept New West from getting any closer.
“We need to keep pushing it. Other teams can’t keep up with our pace,” said Manhas.
