Submitted photo
Back row: assistant coach Brad Spencer. Standing from left, Hailey Smith, Taylor Frisina, -Cassie Turkstra, Alexa Fama, Nicole St.Aubin, Natalie Ogrodnik, head coach Ron Pederson and assistant coach-Geeve Sandhu. Kneeling: Madilynne Charles, Trinity Spencer, Sarah Treffry and Camila Messina. Front row: Malaysia Sandhu and Cassandra Oddi. Absent to injury is Victoria Young.
The ABC Magic Major Atom girls came home with the gold medal from the 2013 London GMBC Invitational Tournament.
Led by guard Alexa Fama’s 14 points, the team opened the tournament with a convincing 42-16 victory over the Windsor Valiants.
On Saturday the girls fell 37-34 in the final minute of a hard-fought game against a GMBC team from London. The Magic led for much of the game, with a strong performance from centre Nicole St. Aubin with 12 points. In their final round-robin game, the Magic pulled out all the stops to beat Kitchener Waterloo 36-18. The game featured strong guard play from Camila Messina, Malaysia Sandhu and Trinity Spencer. Ancaster finished first in its pool and moved on to the medal round against Kingsville Classic. The Magic came out on top 38-25, using a stifling defense that was the hallmark of all their victories all weekend. The team was led by St. Aubin and a strong defensive effort from forwards Natalie Ogrodnik and Sarah Treffry.
Prior to the gold medal game, head coach Ron Pederson praised the girls for their intensity at the defensive end and commented that every player had contributed to the team’s success.
The gold medal game featured a rematch against GMBC, and the Magics stifling defense once again went to work. Centre Cassie Turkstra, forwards Cassandra Oddi and Hailey Smith contributed key baskets and centre Taylor Frisina grabbed important rebounds as the Magic came out on top 39-31. Co-captains Madilynne Charles and Fama led a balanced attack with six points each.
