Tuesday October 24, 2023 marks the return of the OSBA Game of the Week.
This match up features the defending Women's Champions, Crestwood Prep against King's Christian Collegiate who went undefeated in the 2022-2023 regular season.
The Game of the Week (GOTW) series stream will start around 6:15 pm with a special presentation of the 2022-2023 Championship banner at Crestwood Preparatory College.
Marlo Davis returns as Head Coach looking to lead the team to a back-to-back championship run.
While Crestwood has several returning faces, notably led by Duke commit Toby Fournier, fresh off a bronze medal win with the U19 Women's National Team, opponents need to be prepared for this deep, multifaceted team.
Fournier is surrounded with a robust roster of ladies that represented Team Ontario in the Summer. With the U17 Provincial team, Taylor Williams (committed to Boston U), and Nia Chima (committed to UMASS-Lowell). The U15 Team O squad had Kaylen "KK" Sta Maria (committed to Fresno State University), and new commers Brook McLeod, and Avery Arije in uniform (Arije also suited up for the U16 National team).
The roster depth doesn't stop there with Ava Porter, Chantelle Stuart, and Tyanne Matosas-Adderly also returning. Olivia Leung is also back who just committed to the University of Dayton (also represented Alberta as U17 National Silver medalists), and Agot Makeer brings a dominating post presence to the table. 6'3" Gabby Clive transfers in from Halifax and is sure to make an impact with her size to give Fournier some rest.
While that might seem intimidating to anyone, don't count out King's Christian.
King's Christian Collegiate now sees Shane Bascoe taking over as head coach for the 2023-2024 campaign, and he's got a young squad who is fresh off a loss to Niagara Prep making them hungry to hand a loss to the defending champs.
Toby's success at the U19 World Championships was thanks to being led by a strong point guard in Jasmine Bascoe, who happens to be King's floor general. She's got fire and is as physical as point guards come.
Don't let that loss to Niagara fool you, Bascoe was sidelined for that game, and the game was close into the final minute of play. King's also bouts a roster full of Team Ontario ladies with Scarlett Smith (U15) seeing a lot of time to start the year. Ocean Dennis (U15) joins the backcourt along with returners Carletta Bennett and Mikaela James. New to the backcourt this year is Kiyla Fowler and Camille Pangonis.
King's has size to match up well with Crestwood. Only in grade 10, Emma Donglemans was a huge contributor to the Team Ontario Bronze medal game. At 6'5" this girl is full of potential. Experience the front court comes through returning athlete Seyyane Matthew, and other significant presences in the post can be felt from Ella Metieh, Mildred Dibua, and 6'3" rookie Riley Collinson.
While King's Christian Collegiate is young, the talent is there and if they can step up to provide Jasmine Bascoe with a solid team around her, and not be intimidated by Crestwood, we could be looking at a preview of the 2023-2024 finals.