By: Julian Orlando 

Mohawk Mountaineers concluded the first half of the 2022-23 season with a 92-56 victory over the Sheridan Bruins.

The opening quarter was the Mountaineers best 10 minutes of the season offensively, scoring 30 points to take a 13-point advantage.

In the second quarter the Bruins began to chip away at the lead, but Mohawk was able to shut down any Sheridan run to lead 43-32 at half.

It remained much of the same in the second half with the Mountaineers controlling both sides of the court.

Mohawk's co-head coach, Mihai Raducanu, highlighted the positives from the squad.

"Today, we played like a team. We trusted and believed in each other," Raducanu said. "We had better energy, we were able to move the ball, we were able to bother them, and as we achieved that they had a lot of turnovers and that helped us."

As a team, the Mountaineers shot a season-high 42.5 per cent from the field and knocked down 13 threes.

Alina Dineley (Grand Valley, ON) led Mohawk with 24 points off the bench. Tia Stys (St. Catharines, ON) had her third double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

A total of six Mountaineers finished in double digit scoring. Beth Minielly (London, ON) scored 14, Rachel Guanzon (Guelph, ON) added 11, and Donna-Marie Borja (Calgary, AB) and Angong Jacob (Calgary, AB) scored 12 and 11 off the bench, respectively.

Mohawk finish the first half with a 2-6 record, having won two of their last four. Raducanu explained how the holiday break will be good for the team.

"We have a month now to get better," Raducanu said. "This a great opportunity to work on skills and sharpen up."

The Mountaineers will play a couple exhibition games to begin January 2023, and then regular season play will start-up again on Jan. 14 when they host the Niagara Knights at 1 p.m.

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