Royals junior girls in second place in the District

The Centre Dufferin District High School Royals junior girls basketball team are in second place in the District 4 standings after a 31-30 win over the Westside Secondary School Thunder in a game that came right down to the last minute of play.

The win gave the Royals a 4-1 record for the season – good for the second spot right behind Wellington Heights Secondary School and four points ahead of the third place Westside Secondary School Thunder.

After taking a lead in the Wednesday, October 18, game against Westside in the first half, the Royals found themselves in a defensive position when the Orangeville team fought back to tie the game at 22 with 1:30 remaining in the third quarter.

From there it was an all out battle in the fourth quarter with the score never going beyond a two point gap for the rest of the game.

Both teams played solid offensive game and were matching baskets for the quarter.

The Royals took a foul with a minute left on the clock and a free throw netted the team the one point they needed to go ahead.

The CDDHS squad took their remaining time-outs in the last minute to work out a strategy to keep the lead.

The buzzer sounded before either team could hit the net an the Royals left the court with a 31-30 win.

“We could have done better. Our defence was okay, but our transition to getting back on defence could have been better,” summed up Royals shooting guard, Shannon Bury, after the game. “It's been a good season – we only lost one game. The Westside team was good, they had some really good height on their team. That was one of their best advantages.”

The Royals will play their final regular season game on the road when they go to Orangeville to take on the Thunder on Monday, October 30.

Game time is 2:30 p.m.