Lightning 34- Oakville  35 

Lightning 36- Kingston 33

The first game was played on the Friday evening against Guelph which Lightning lost 41 to 22.

The Major Bantam Blacks regrouped and played their second game on Saturday against Strathroy.  Lightning cruised to a  51 to 23 win in that game.

The last game for our team was played against Brantford which Lightning ended up losing 40 to 29.

With Lightning’s one win and two loss record they did not advance to the medal round.

Even with the Major Bantam Blacks not advancing in this tournament the girls still took all the games played as learning tools to build on and look forward to playing in the next tournament which is Hoopdome being held Feb. 24th to the 26th.

Our team opened the tournament with the first game against Stratford. This was a team our girls had not played before so our team beating Stratford 23-16 in this first game was a great start to the tournament for Major Bantam Blacks.

The second game was on Saturday morning against Grimsby. Unfortunately Grimsby took that game 46-35. Lightning tried a few times to make a comeback but Grimsby held on for the win.

The last game of the round robin for Major Bantam Black was against Blessed Sacrament. Our girls played very well and took that game 36 to 21.

Since the Major Bantam Black’s tournament had 12 teams playing for the gold medal, the teams had to be split into  three divisions containing four teams each. In order to advance to the medal round a team had to win their division. Even thought the Major Bantam Blacks finished with two wins & one loss our team still finished second in our division and just missed out on the wild card spot by four points. Althought our team did not advance the girls still had a great time.

Congratulations to London for winning the Gold medal!

This tournament was not possible if not for the help of all the parent volunteers….THANKS!!!!

They met Guelph Friday night and played a fantastic game.  Some new fancy footwork was introduced at the foul line – entertaining and accurate, what more could we ask for?  The long pass was a succes and was used beautifully!  Well done girls for staying on top of Guelph and finishing with a strong win 37 – 29.

Day 2 saw the girls meeting Orillia Lakers.   The girls had a slow start, but a big finish.  A few great break aways got the momentum going in this game.  The defence and the intercepting was awesome and shut the Lakers down.  By the end of the 6th set the girls had a good lead and finished with a 50 – 30 win.

Day 3 had an early start  against Etobicoke Thunder but that didn’t seem to bother the Lightning girls!   With hairspray in place – the girls came in very strong and held on to their lead throughout the game.  Both offensively and defensively the team was strong and they deserved the 43 – 29 win!

Off to the finals for an intense match up against Guelph Phoenix.  Both teams came in aggressive and hungry for that gold medal.  The girls held strong in a very crowded gym and stayed tight with Guelph the whole match – never more than a 4 point spread!  Again our Major Atoms were amazing and pulled off some of the cleanest hook shots ever…SWOOSH!  It was an exciting finish to a great weekend – 43 – 37 win for KW Lightning Gold Medal Winners.

Well Done to all the girls and coaches - You all look fantastic in gold.

• Played against Halton Hills .. They scored a 54-9 win.

Game 2

• Played against York South Silver Knights … They scored another 30-8 win. … Way to go girls!

The Major Atom girls headed to Brantford for the Falcons “AAA” Tournament.

Friday’s game against Brantford was very competitive.  A very strong defence the first set kept the Falcons from scoring.  It was a terrific start to a game where the girls worked hard and gave their best effort.  L 23 – 11 

Both games Saturday were well played.  The girls showed a tremendous amount of spirit throughout the day and brought the energy to the court. The first game of the day ended with a disappointing loss to Scarborough – 54 – 8. In game two the girls met Oakville Venom.  The girls showed tremendous skill and energy, and played a great game.  L 43 – 18. 

With quite a good break between games, the team organized one of its famous potluck lunches!  The girls dined on everything from salads to cold cuts – where did all those olives go?  It was a great time to sit back, relax and chat.

Once again coaches and players – Great Job!!

All the girls played great and had lots of fun!  Now it’s a week to get ready for our own tournament next weekend.

Back from the Holidays and straight into a tournament… Luckily, Father Christmas; Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas and Kris Kringle must have given some pretty good presents (or a pep talk) ’cause the team has come back with some HEAT…

DAY 1:
Our first game at the Brantford CYO tournament was against Stoney Creek. Our second “WIN” for the season but in my books our first “Major Win”…if you cannot already tell by the below pictures, but above all, a well deserved win against a strong opponent. A “nail biter” from the get go and only got worse as the game progressed. Lightning took the lead from the beginning giving the the extra burst of “tournament” energy… Katelyn and Adrianna were on “fire” and kept the score board ticking while the team played with finesse as they moved the ball around and used the court as a playground. Alyssa’s swift, smooth, nutting’ but net shot had to be the “shot of the game”.

Nervous spectators watched as the game was at a point for point scenario and at the end coming down to foul points as we all watched with anticipation, eyes glued on nets and fingers in our mouths… ending with a final score of 36-34.

DAY 2:
First game against Guelph CYO and another win under our belts, congratulations once again to our Lighting Atom girls and the coaches for an awesome start to the tournament. Two wins… good teamwork and a positive attitude. A 29-40 win allowed for an amazing boost of confidence… considering this is a team we have played & lost exhibition games against on several occasions. If this is not a showcase of improvement then I do not know what is.
Second game was one for the history books as we played a top ranked team but our girls went at it head strong and full of courage (or late lunch from Angels Diner). Either way, a 53-19 loss with plenty of fouls to make your head spin, but we (players & parents) went down fighting to the bitter end…

DAY 3:
Well, we have made it to the semi-finals… 4 teams and all winners in my books. Dundas, Transway, Blessed Sacrament & KW Lightning. Our first battle was a loss against Blessed Sacrament. We fought hard but failed against Blessed Sacraments offensive attacks. Maybe 8:30am games are not our forte… pushing us into a fight for third and fourth place against Dundas Dynamo (a well known rival). A slow but good start soon slipped away from us as the Dynamo’s on point shooting frenzy made it hard for the Lightning to catch up and ending the tournament in a fourth place win. Congratulations to the team and a big thank you to the parents and supporters.

p.s. – to get the full image, double click on the image twice to get the full picture with everyone visible.

Lightning 31 -Windsor Valiants 28 

Lightning 28- Brandtford CYO 45

Lightning 32 -Oakville VYTIS 72