The D.P. Todd Trojans, like so many other teams this season, had no answer for Ruth Hamblin.
In Saturday's championship game of a College Heights senior girls basketball tournament, the towering Hamblin led her Houston Christian Wildcats to a 76-72 win against the Trojans. Hamblin, a six-foot-five Team B.C. player, cleaned up everything around the hoop and finished the contest with 34 points.
"She's absolutely phenomenal," Trojans coach Reid Roberts said of Hamblin. "Any girl at that height is going to be tough to deal with. She has just a ton of talent. She was a force."
With her shot-blocking ability, Hamblin also caused headaches for the Trojans when they tried to work the ball inside for scoring opportunities.
"We tried to man-to-man press the whole game and tried to fast-break," Roberts said. "Our only chance to try and beat her was to eliminate her in most of the play and just get the game going up and down the floor as quick as we could. We hung in there, for the most part."
The Wildcats are the top-ranked single-A team in B.C., while the Trojans entered the weekend at No. 6 in the double-A division.
While the Wildcats got the bulk of their scoring from Hamblin, the Trojans spread their offensive production around. Danielle Steel, a Grade 12 point guard, led the way with 17 points. Dorion Van Caeseele added 13 and three players -- Piper Hoekstra, Tenley Pearce and Sunita Bansal -- finished with 10.
The Trojans started the tournament with a 72-60 win against College Heights and then beat Columneetza of Williams Lake 79-52.
"I was happy with the outcome," Roberts said.
The Trojans will be right back on the court on Wednesday, and the game will be the most important of their season thus far. At 6 p.m. at the Northern Sport Centre, they'll tip off against College Heights in the city championship. Later, at 8 p.m., D.P. Todd and College Heights will also clash in the boys championship game.
