Alexander Colle | Sports Editor
Featured image: Lions victories were led by play of Lindsay Shotbolt and Chante Clarke on the road | Courtesy of York Lions
Playing on the road in Waterloo this weekend, the women’s basketball team could not have asked for better results, defeating the Laurier Golden Hawks and Waterloo Warriors by a combined 33 points.
For the first game of the weekend, the women found themselves taking on a 4-3 Golden Hawks team that they lost to last season by 30.
The Lions took to the inside game for the first half and absolutely dominated Laurier in the paint, outscoring them 24-2 for points in the key.
Meanwhile on the defensive end, the Lions only allowed 21 per cent shooting from the floor, including 26 per cent from beyond the arc. The Lions only improved as the game progressed, as they held Laurier to a mere eight points in the second quarter.
Leading the way for the Lions in the first half was Lindsay Shotbolt, who recorded an early double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.
Coming out of the half with a 39-25 lead, the second half saw more of the same dominance, as the Lions continued to pound the Hawks on the inside while staying defensively sound on their own end, by only allowing 32 per cent shooting from the floor and 33 per cent from beyond the arc.
After allowing Laurier to outscore them in the third quarter, the Lions buckled down even further, making defensive stops down the stretch and turning them into baskets on the other end to close out the victory.
Led by a 17-point and 19-rebound beast-mode performance by Shotbolt, the Golden Hawks had no chance against a Lions offense that outscored them 44-14 in the paint and 24-14 in points off turnovers. The Lions shot the ball well on Friday, shooting a respectable 42 per cent from the floor, while only allowing 26 per cent on the defensive end.
The second game of the weekend featured a matchup against a Waterloo team that had defeated the Lions last season by a score of 67-55. Saturday had a much different result, ending in a beatdown in favour of the Lions, who took the game 62-40.
This time, the Lions were led by the performance of Chante Clarke, who shot five of seven from the field and 50 per cent from beyond the arc, for a total of 16 points in the win.
Building off the impressive defensive play of last game, the Lions held the Warriors to a measly 23 per cent from the floor in the half and 21 points in total.
Up nine points coming out of the half, the Lions continued their dominant play by holding the Warriors to 18 points, while scoring 32 for themselves on 35 per cent shooting from the field.
The Lions showed their depth in this match, outscoring the Warriors bench by 18 points.
The win brings the Lions to fourth in the OUA East division with a record of 4-3.
The men’s team had a much different result this weekend, losing both games to the hosts, first to the Golden Hawks by 12, and then to the Warriors by 11.
Defense was an issue in the first game for the Lions, as they allowed Laurier to shoot 60 per cent from the floor in the first half on 20-33 shooting. York could not recover from this early hole, as they were only able to muster a shooting percentage of 32 per cent for the whole game.
The second game saw more of the same, as the Lions allowed the Warriors to shoot 40 per cent from the field, while only shooting 30 per cent themselves. Here, York was particularly torched by the play of Warrior Simon Petrov, who dropped 27 points on 66 per cent shooting against the Lions defense.
Next weekend the Lions are back at home taking on the Western Mustangs and the Windsor Lancers on Friday and Saturday.
Tip-off is at 6 p.m. for the women and 8 p.m. for the men at Tait McKenzie.
