17吃瓜网

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be the centre of attention when the 17吃瓜网 Girls Basketball Tournament kicks off Tuesday.

The Irish are the No. 1 seed in this year鈥檚 tournament followed by the defending champion Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs, Eden Flyers and A.N. Myer Marauders, who round out the top four.

The Irish are off to a perfect start to their season and would love nothing more than to add a 17吃瓜网 Tournament title to their resume.

鈥淲e have basically the exact same team as last year. We haven鈥檛 added any players,鈥� Irish assistant coach Kristen Dean said. 鈥淥ur expectations are high because coming into this tournament we鈥檝e won two previous tournaments (Notre Dame Tournament, Cougar Classic) and we have not lost a game yet this season.鈥�

The strong start has the Fighting Irish thinking big.

鈥淲e weren鈥檛 sure how we would fare coming into the season because we do have the same team. We did lose in the semis of your tournament last year, but now that we鈥檝e obviously played a few games, we鈥檙e very optimistic and hopeful that we could potentially win, but you just never know,鈥� Dean said.

Dean said the team is also hopeful of a long playoff run.

鈥淲e are looking ahead. We鈥檙e hosting SOSSA (Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association) this year in November. We lost in the first game last year but with how well we鈥檙e doing so far this season, we鈥檙e hopeful that maybe we could fare better this year. The girls would really would love to get to OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations). That鈥檚 our goal, but you just never know.鈥�

Notre Dame feature a solid starting five headed up by point guard Nicole Dixon, scorer Lila DiPietro, Grade 10 forward Camilla Moscato, Ava Briggs and Ava DeChellis, who is coming back from injury that wiped out her season.听

鈥淪he鈥檚 been a great defensive player for us. A very strong player,鈥� Dean said of DeChellis.

Dixon, a 17-year-old, Grade 12 student, has high hopes as well.

鈥淚 think offensively and defensively we鈥檙e very strong and we鈥檙e hoping to get into the semifinals and then looking to proceed to the champions,鈥� she said, 鈥淭he last two years we lost in the semifinals by a close games that I really think we were gonna be able to step it up.鈥�

Dixon is expected to be one of the team鈥檚 leaders this year.

鈥淚 think because I鈥檓 one of the seniors I鈥檓 probably one of the leaders,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 kind of see myself as a leader on the team just for a lot of them are younger too, and I want to provide a good example鈥�听

Lauryn Briggs, Elyse Carmichael, Tino Muzah, Olivia Bittman, Abbey Grande, Kyra Digaetano round out the roster.听

鈥淒i Pietro has been scoring a lot of points this year, she was driving a lot, but all the girls I would say equally contribute, it just depends on the date,鈥� Dean said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a really quick team so we look to our fast break and trying to get down the floor before the other team sets up. That’s where we get a lot of our points.鈥�

Dean said the Irish’s depth 听will be put to the test.

鈥淲e only have 11 girls on the team and one is injured right now, so we play everybody,鈥� she said. 鈥淓verybody gets in with our team, it’s not always equal, but everybody gets in and just honestly depends on the game and who we鈥檙e playing. We try to sub as much as we can to get through because we don鈥檛 have a very big bench this year.鈥�

The tournament is made possible with the help of Women Networking in Sports of Niagara, Tora Inc., Ridley College, Alltech Automotive, St. Catharines CYO Basketball, Pelham Panthers basketball, Niagara Falls Red Raiders basketball, the Niagara District Referees Association, the District School Board of Niagara and the Niagara Catholic District School Board.

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