Isfeld Jr. Girls Basketball Pick up 3 Wins at Island Challenge Tournament in Victoria
The Mark Isfeld Ice junior girls basketball team finished with a 3-1 record at the 12-team Island Challenge tournament in Victoria on Jan. 6-7.
The girls got off to an impressive start defeating Victoria’s Spectrum handily with foward Shimen Fayad leading all scorers with 16 points.
Isfeld then met #10-ranked Notre Dame from Vancouver on Friday night. Notre Dame jumped out to a 17-7 first quarter lead when the Ice melted a bit. But the determined Isfeld squad battled back in the second quarter with three timely give-and-gos by Michaela Ashlee and a hot three by Danielle VanBergen to cut the lead to 25-23 at the break.
The lead see-sawed back and forth with 11 Isfeld girls rotating in and out throughout the game and notable hard work done by Fayad, Jose Bourget, Leah Cicon and Melia Irvine on defence and the boards. Down the stretch a tough basket by Irvine to tie the game was answered back by the Jugglers from Vancouver, ending a hard-fought, well-played contest at 46-44 for them. VanBergen with 15 led the Isfeld scorers with Avery Snider and Ashlee adding nine points each.
Saturday morning brought another Lower Mainland-Fraser Valley opponent, Walnut Grove. Isfeld scored first and led 13-9 at the quarter and 24-19 at the half with a hot hand held by Snider and good work by Yasmine Boilard, Fayad, Hana and MacKenzie. The Ice maintained the lead throughout in a close game, and timely treys by Danielle and Avery and cool headed point guard play by Michaela helped close the deal, with 45-39 the final score.
The Ice closed out the weekend with an impressive 61-23 win over Argyle from North Vancouver, a game highlighted by Boilard's two successful foul shots and good team play by all. Snider led all scorers with 15 and Irvine added 12 while Ashlee finished with nine and Boilard eight.
The girls were able to see both the UVic women’s and men’s games on Saturday evening before returning home. The Isfeld Ice junior girls invite all basketball fans to their home tournament this weekend.
Action starts at 12 noon on Friday, Jan. 13 and the eight-team event features #2 ranked Oak Bay from Victoria and teams from Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Qualicum Beach, Parksville and Vanier.