In the opening round, held in Lakefield: …………………………………………………… The Chatham John McGregor Panthers defeated Owen Sound West Hill x-x. …………………………………………………… The Tecumseh E.S. L’Essor Aigles spanked the Campbellford Flames 38-19.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The Englehart Spartans dispatched the Tecumseh E.S. L’Essor Aigles 42-36.
Other qualifiers:
Arnprior: Alison Birch
In the quarterfinals, the Chatham John McGregor Panthers stunned the top-seeded Timmins Blues x-x.
The Cornwall CVS Cougars defeated x.
Sarnia Collegiate defeated x.
In the last quarterfinal, the Peterborough Raiders defeated x.
In the semis, the Chatham John McGregor Panthers dispatched the Cornwall CVS Cougars x-x.
In the other semi, Sarnia Collegiate defeated the Peterborough Raiders x-x.
In the bronze medal match, the Cornwall CVS Cougars defeated the Peterborough Raiders x-x.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Chatham John McGregor Panthers defeated the Sarnia Collegiate Blue Bombers 40-33 as Margaret Piggott hit 5-6 from the line down the stretch. Carrie Dillon paced the Panthers with 13. Karrie Williams added 10 and Margaret Piggott 9. Kelly Buchanan led the Blue Bombers with 10. The Panthers finished 32-2 on the season. “Every coach, once in a blue moon, is blessed with a team with a combination of discipline and dedication and talent,” coach Brian Day said. “We had a really good work ethic and a dedicated group of girls that liked to play and liked each other,” said all-star forward Carrie Dillon. “It doesn’t come around very often, a team that’s that close-knit.” Daphne Day said “we were a team, but we were also a family.” They added a missing ingredient in 1985 when all-star forward Karrie Williams transferred from Chatham-Kent Secondary School for her final year of high school. Williams and Carleton were later teammates at Grand Valley State University. “I know that Karrie and I got the spotlight, but we were a total team and everybody had a job,” Dillon said. “Everybody made an impact on that team and knew their roles.” Guard Kelli Norris was a great ball-handler and forward Margaret Piggott was a strong shooter, she said. Each played basketball at the University of Windsor, while Juli Elders won a Canadian university shot put championship at Manitoba. The Panthers cruised through the Kent regular season and playoffs, winning each game by at least 20 points. Winning so many blowouts let everyone get playing time. “During the season and even in the playoffs in Kent County, I had two units of five and they all played equally,” Day said. During the 1983-84 season, Day recorded his students screaming and would play the tape at practices to simulate the hostile environment the Panthers would face at Windsor Forster in the SWOSSAA playoffs. “He was pretty creative,” Day said about her father. “He believed in practicing for the conditions you’d be playing in.” The Panthers were the first SWOSSAA team to win an OFSAA girls basketball title and the first OFSAA champions at the new ‘AA’ level. They also had the first two Kent players (Williams and Dillon) to earn full-ride basketball scholarships to the U.S. “We were a team of many firsts,” Day said.
The bronze medalist Cornwall CVS Cougars:
The silver medalist Sarnia Collegiate Blue Bombers: Kelly Buchanan; Tina Bryant; Lisa Roth; Kara Warnez; Sarah Robinson; Cheryl Condie; Kathy Arcuri; Heidi Negri; Penny Thomson; Maureen Robertson; Lisa Leaver; coach Gavin Hall; assistant Barb Faulkner; assistant Rick McLellan
The gold medalist Chatham John McGregor Panthers: Julie Elders, Margaret Piggott, Kelli Norris; Daphne Day; Karrie Williams; Carrie Dillon; Stephanie Myers; Kim Grey; Jana Elders; Tracy Cruse; coach Bud Day; manager Jeannie Jubinville