FIGHTING IRISH  GIRLS BASKETBALL
Major Atom
2007 - 2008

Fighting Irish Win Bronze!

The Fighting Irish Major Atom team coached by Dean Galvin and Jay Peckham are two for two winning their second medal in as many tournaments.  The Irish won three games in Kingsville on January 12 & 13^th to capture the Bronze medals.  

The Irish squad got off to a bad start Saturday morning against the Chatham Wildcats and trailed 14-2 at the half.  “Everyone looked half asleep!” exclaimed coach Galvin. “but we were back to our old selves in the second half.”  Emily Peckham led a 17-8 run in the third quarter to bring the Irish within 5. With 30 seconds to play and trailing by 2 Daylin Galvin fouled #21 to stop the clock but she nailed both free throws putting the Irish in a 4 point deficit.  Then Galvin hit a 3-pointer to bring them back within 1.  Chatham turned over the ball with just one second left on the clock.  The Irish had one last chance to secure the win, but Galvin’s shot was deflected and the local girls had to settle for a 32-31 loss.  Emily Peckham and Daylin Galvin led the offense with 9 and 8 points respectively.  Megan Thevenot added 6 and Kadin Siopidou-D’Andrea, Lauren Dalrymple, Adrianna Arcuri and Taylor Moore chipped in 2 each.  Peckham also had a strong defensive game posting 7 rebounds and 5 steals.

In their second game the Irish defeated Wallaceburg 43-23.  The Irish trailed 6-5 at the end of the first quarter but got hot in the second posting an 18-4 run and never looked back.  Taylor Moore led the offense with 8 followed by Galvin, Peckham and Victoria Ennett with 6 each.  Lauren Elviage, Carmela Arcuri and Kadin added 4 each with Adrianna Arcuri and Megan Thevenot rounding out the scoring with 2 a piece. 

The Irish continued their winning streak beating the Amherstburg Lady Generals 35-15 Saturday afternoon.  The Irish came out on fire posting a 17-2 lead in the first quarter.  Early in the third quarter, Brynne Kennedy stole the ball and drove the length of the floor but was fouled putting up her lay up.  “That was probably the highlight of the game!” said Coach Peckham.  “Brynne is our youngest and smallest player on the team and everyone in the gym was cheering for her when she went to the line.”  Peckham and Kadin had the hot hands for the Irish with 10 points each.  Galvin and Elviage added 5 and 4 respectively and the Arcuri twins and Victoria Ennett added 2 a piece.

On Sunday morning the girls faced the toughest competition at the tournament, the Tecumseh Saints.  Unfortunately, the girls came out very sluggish in the first half.  “We just don’t do well early in the morning.” offered Coach Peckham.  Tecumseh held a 25-6 lead at the half.  The Irish played a lot stronger in the second half trailing by just 3 points to finish up with a 44-22 loss.  “The Saints won Gold in division 2 last year, so I didn’t expect to beat them.” Admitted Coach Galvin, “If we had played the whole game the way we did in the second half, I think we would have been within 10 points.  I am very proud of how hard our girls worked and the fact that they never gave up.”   Tecumseh went on to win the Gold medals.  Peckham and Galvin led the offense with 9 and 7 respectively Moore and Carmela added 2 each with Lauren Dalrymple and Adrianna connecting for a free throw each.

The Irish defeated their hosts the Kingsville Class in what turned out to be a very exciting game.  “We should have beat that team by 20 points,” said Coach Galvin, “but our girls were just worn out!  Our shooting percentage was way down which is always a sign of fatigue.”  The Irish jumped out to an early lead but the Kingsville star forward nailed two 3-pointers in the third quarter to bring Kingsville within 5.  Fortunately for the Irish, she fouled out early in the 4^th quarter.  Daylin Galvin connected for both free throws late in the game to put the Irish up by 3 and they hung on to post the 29-26 final. Galvin led the offense with 9 followed closely by Peckham with 6.  Kadin had 3, the Arcuri twins and Victoria Ennett had 2 each with Lauren Dalrymple adding 1.

The Irish are off for two weeks before traveling to London on Feb. 1-3 to participate in the London Titan’s tournament.  “I’m grateful for the break,” said Coach Galvin. “It will give us a chance to work on a few things.”  The local girls will face some pretty stiff competition in London so it will be a good test.