Lady Blues Complete JUEL ‘Ship 3-Peat

On May 19, 2019, the SBA Lady Blues defeated the Advantage Titans by a score of 65-54 to claim the 2019 JUEL League Championship Gold medal, held at the University of Guelph.

The win solidified as strong of a run as any JUEL League team has made, securing their third straight Ontario Rep team, championship title with the win.

“It is incredible that a team was able to accomplish what we have done over the past in becoming a dynasty”, said Lady Blues’ Head Coach, Paul Weekes proudly.

“To be able to 3-peat, takes alot of hard work, dedication and commitment.”

The hard work in this game began early as the Blues jumped out to a 18-10 first quarter lead, which ballooned to 38-21 by halftime.

Sensing their chance at a title slipping away, the Titans fought back after the halftime break. Going with a smaller, more agile line up, they put together a run of their own. With improved 3-point shooting, the Titans narrowed the deficit from 17 down to 9, allowing them to be within striking distance entering into the last quarter of play.

The tide however, was cut short when the Lady Blues took back control of the game in the fourth. With the key third quarter Titan contributors beginning to tire, the Lady Blues’ depth came to the forefront, enabling them to close out the well fought 11 point win.

The Blues were led in scoring by Tatyanna Burke, who had a monstrous 17 point, 21 rebound outing. Her 13 offensive boards gave her team the additional scoring chances that was a big difference in the game, empowering the Lady Blues to outscore the Titans 24-11 in second chance points.

The Blues also got a scoring punch from Ahriahna Grizzle with 15, Taite Cleland with 13 and Tiena Neale with 9.

Countering for the Titans, Shaunae Brown scored 16 points including going 4 for 5 from beyond the arc, on a tidy 50% shooting from the field, while collecting 5 rebounds.

The Titans also received 9 points each from Hennessey Luu-Brown and Eszter Madar and 8 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks from Laura Barhacs.

That final win for the Lady Blues, capped off a remarkable run for the team based out of Scarborough, ON. With only one loss on their year, they finished their 3rd consecutive Championship season with a combined record of 64-4 including regular season and playoffs. In 2017 they finished 20-3, in 2018 they went undefeated 23-0 to go along with this season’s 21-1 mark, displaying an unprecedented level of

success in the league’s nine year history.

“Even with the one questionable loss this year we feel we have duplicated what we have done in 2018,” said Weekes who coached each of the teams over the last three seasons.

“From the core young women who started the run [back in 2017], to those that are up and coming.”

Recognizing that it takes a collective in order to produce these types of lofty results, he was appreciative of all that bought in to his vision.

“I would like to thank [Assistant] Coach Alan (Hrabinski), parents, players for all their support in making this the best 3 seasons.”