Emily Goodwin | Editor-in-Chief
Featured Image: Taylor McAlpine looks for an opening in last week’s game against the Ridgebacks. | Courtesy of Jojo Yanjiao Qian/York Lions
The Lions basketball teams played their final games of the season this past weekend. They took on the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks on Wednesday, February 12, and the Queen’s Gaels on Friday, February 14. The women’s team took down the Ridgebacks 89-49 but fell 74-66 to the Gaels, while the men’s team narrowly beat out the Ridgebacks 91-88 and were also defeated by the Gaels 81-63.
In their game against the Ridgebacks, the women’s team started strong and kept the momentum going. They consistently out scored their opponent, and had a 39-25 lead by halftime. The Lions extended their lead throughout the third and fourth quarters, adding 50 more points compared to the Ridgebacks’ 24.
Four of Wednesday’s starting Lions reached double digit points that night. Lauren Golding led the way with 22, followed by Megan MacLeod with 16, Megan Stewart with 15, and Katrina Collins-Samuels with 11.
Two days later, the Lions had a tougher time against the Queen’s Gaels. The Lions led by a single point at halftime, but the Gaels had a big third quarter and led the game 53-46 heading into the final quarter.
The Lions were able to slow the Gaels down in the fourth and had a 20-point quarter of their own, but it was not enough to close the gap the Gaels had made. The Lions final regular season game ended 74-66 in favour of the Gaels.
On the men’s side, they picked up their third and final win of the season on Wednesday over the Ridgebacks. The Lions opened with a big first quarter, but the Ridgebacks had their own big quarter in the second, which led to a 48-41 deficit for the Lions at halftime.
The gap between the Ridgebacks and Lions continued to widen after halftime. The Lions were down by 16 points heading into the final quarter. With the pressure on, the Lions came back and had a 35-point fourth quarter, and won the game by just three points at 91-88.
The Lions did not repeat this success the following night. They immediately fell behind the Gaels, and could not catch up. They finished 18 points behind the Gaels at the end of the game, which ended 81-63.
This concludes the Lions men’s basketball team’s season. The women have qualified for the OUA playoffs after going 11-11 in the regular season. Their first game was on the road yesterday, at the home of the Carleton Ravens on Wednesday, February 19 at 7:00 p.m.
