Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

The Ottawa Gee-Gees have done it. The new Critelli Cup champions, Ottawa went across the city and took down Carleton 70-61, to win their first Critelli Cup since 2011-2012. After years of being on the fringe of a championship, they got over the top and they can call themselves champs.

Carleton wanted to test the Gee-Gees communication defensively and play off the drive, Ottawa wanted to get out and run and keep Carleton off balance. In the first half, it felt like Ottawa got their way while Carleton was forced to shoot threes and get to the foul line to have offensive success.

Natsuki Szczokin was everywhere for the Gee-Gees in the first half. She was playing off screens cutting, she was facilitating creating shots for Bailey Russell and others, she was creating her own shots and hitting threes, nothing Carleton could do was slowing her down. She had 21 points in the first half for Ottawa and whenever they needed to answer a short Carleton run, she was there to be the spark and get some energy back on Ottawa’s side.

Ottawa went into half with a 4-point lead and what stood out to me most about their play was how they were able to handle the pressure Carleton put on the interior. Vertically contesting drives, stopping penetration at the top of the paint, gang rebounding to take Carleton’s second chances away, they took the paint away as an option for the Ravens and they used their rebounding to get quick outlet passes and fuel their fast paced offence.

They were forcing Carleton to be more of a perimeter team and sometimes play high-low to get opportunities for Jacqueline Urban. Though Noelle Kilbreath would knock down threes, Ottawa always answered with a stop or a tough bucket on the other side to keep the momentum on Ottawa’s side and keep them in the lead.

The Ravens had to find a way to slow the Gee-Gees down in the second half and pull Ottawa into a game where the Ravens defence can start to pick them apart as they’ve done to many teams. Unfortunately for the Ravens that wouldn’t be until the fourth as Ottawa took over in the third quarter with their versatility and their ability to turn defence into offence.

It was Allie McCarthy and Emily Payne in the third quarter as Ottawa doubled the Ravens 21-10 in the quarter to push their lead to double-digits. Carleton more than ever had to slow it down and make the most of their possessions without letting Ottawa get into the fast break, and Ottawa just had to continue forcing turnovers on Carleton paint touches not allowing the ball to get back out.

Ottawa executed very well in the half court when they got stopped high up the court, knocking down their shots and making great passes to get out of Carleton traps. They knocked down 43 per cent of their shots as a team and 47 per cent from three, they were efficient and precise against the tough Ravens defence, taking whatever Carleton tried to do to get a lead back, out of the equation as Ottawa just had to stay in their system offensively during the fourth quarter.

Though Carleton was able to capitalize on stops they got defensively and turn them into buckets for Dorcas Buisa or Kyana-Jade Poulin, Ottawa always got in passing lanes sooner or later and knocked down answers to never give Carleton the lead back. Weathering the storm in the fourth quarter, Ottawa stayed calm and never let the Ravens guard pressure got to them, responding to a turnover with a stop of their own and great execution on the other end to get a score.

Kyana-Jade Poulin kept the Ravens within five over the last five minutes of the quarter getting to the line or knocking down threes, but Ottawa always had one more to answer and when the buzzer sounded the Gee-Gees were on top 70-61 and Critelli Cup champs.

Ottawa got what they had been so close to getting and they did it in opponent territory. They ended Carleton’s undefeated run and set themselves up for most likely a top two seed for the upcoming U SPORTS Final 8 where they’ll try and chain this together into a run for a national championship.