Jonas Emilsson
www.KramMag.com

Not only were the Harry Ainley Titan’s Plouffe sisters wreaking havoc on the announcers, they were also making things difficult for the Spruce Grove Composite Panthers.

The twin towers were a force in the senior girls’ 4A championship game, especially early where they paced the Titans to a 41-26 halftime lead before eventually capturing the provincial title with a commanding 80-50 win.

Michelle Plouffe scored 24 points, 17 of which came in the first half and sister Katherine added 16 points.  Forward Kirsten Peters added 20, also for the Titans.

Forward Cara Zamburek scored 13 points to lead the Panthers.

The Titans jumped out to an early lead, thanks in large part to their massive size advantage at pretty much every position.

By the end of the first quarter the already held a commanding 19-6 lead.

The onslaught continued into the second half, and just three minutes in he Titans’ lead extended to 52-26.

“I thought the girls came out strong, they started out really good, they were blocking out and playing good defense,” said Titans’ head coach Kristy Marsh.

By the time the third quarter ended, the Titans double-upped the Panthers’ 64-32.

The Titans deployed a very effective inside-outside game which focused on their biggs getting the ball inside.  If the shot wasn’t there, they were quick to kick it out for either an outside shot or another entry pass down low.

The constant ball movement combined with their size proved too much for the Panthers’ defenders to handle.

As impressive as their attacking game was, their defensive play may have been even more impressive.

The Titans’ played a masterful ball pressure game, especially in the half-court game where they denied the Panthers from getting very few quality looks at the basket.

Yes, a lot of that can again be credited to their size advantage, but Coach Marsh would rather credit her team’s overall athletic ability and basketball IQ.

“Everyone knew that we had size advantage, and that’s important to our game, but that’s not even half of it. “ explained Marsh.  “There’s still all the ability.  We have national players and when we have those kinds of players that have been in those situations before you can rely on them and be confident in their abilities.