The National Capital Secondary Schools Athletic Association was granted a second entry after the CISAA released its entry.
In the opening round, held in Belle River: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded London Mother Theresa Spartans dispatched the 19th-seeded Etobicoke Father Henry Carr Crusaders 51-41 after leading 19-8, 39-18 and 47-28 at the quarters. McKenna Deering led the x with 17. Brittany English led the Crusaders with 9. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Thunder Bay Hammarskjold Vikings nipped the 14th-seeded Belle River Nobles 35-33. The Vikings led 10-0 after one quarter. The Nobles led 17-16 at the half and 31-28 after three quarters. Hana Whalen paced the Vikings with 10. Madison Finnerty led the Nobles with 12. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Burlington Notre Dame Fighting Irish clipped the 17th-seeded Sudbury Ecole Secondaire Macdonald-Cartier Panthers 50-44 after leading 17-12, 34-17 and 38-33 at the quarters. Skye Barbato paced the Leprechauns with 19. Arianne Saumur led the Panthers with 17. Clara Yanchuk added 9 and Megan Hicks 8. “They played really well,” Panthers assistant coach Ron Poulin told the Sudbury Star. “We told them we were really proud with how we came back in third, and we won that 16-4 and that put us back in the game. We were down 17 at the half, and the second quarter hurt us, but we came back in the third and kept fighting through the fourth quarter. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded St. Catharines Eden Eagles whipped the 16th-seeded Picton Prince Edward Panthers 58-34 after leading 16-10, 26-19 and 45-30 at the quarters. Jenneke Pilling led the Eagles with 21. Vanessa Willis paced the Panthers with 13. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Ecole Secondaire Catholique Theriault Flammes nipped the 11th-seeded Ottawa Cairine Wilson Wildcats despite trailing 14-7, 22-15 and 36-35 at the quarters. Melanie Marin paced the Flames with 16. Navneet Sandhu led the Wildcats with 12. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Newmarket Dr. J.M. Denison Huskies nipped the 12th-seeded Burlington Nelson Lords 32-30 after leading 16-6, 19-11 and 25-20 at the quarters. Nikki Kordez led the Huskies with 9. Jacqueline Boin led the Lords with 14. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Kingston La Salle Black Knights whipped the 13th-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders 65-32 after leading 18-6, 28-15 and 50-27 at the quarters. Sarah Peirson led the Black Knights with 28. Jada Codrington paced the Crusaders with 11. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Agincourt Stephen Leacock Lions dumped the 15th-seeded Mississauga Applewood Heights Axemen 50-37 after leading 16-7, 32-16 and 45-28 at the quarters. Onika Leverage led the Lions with 22. Shawna Jackson led the Axemen with 6. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Barrie St. Joseph’s Jaguars dispatched the 18th-seeded Ottawa Immaculata Saints 50-38 after leading 19-7, 31-13 and 48-30 at the quarters. Chloe Hamilton led the Jaguars with 17. Chloe Walker led the Saints with 22. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Wallaceburg Tartans stomped the 20th-seeded Whitby Father Leo J. Austin Wildcats 49-29 after leading 14-9, 22-18 and 36-20 at the quarters. Brett Fischer led the Tartans with 22. Alyssa Navarro paced the Wildcats with 6.
In the second, elimination round: …………………………………………………… The 16th-seeded Picton Prince Edward Panthers nipped the 17th-seeded Sudbury Ecole Secondaire Macdonald-Cartier Panthers 44-40 after leading 15-8, 23-13 and 37-30 at the quarters. Hailey Van Rossum led Prince Edward with 15. Arianne Saumur paced Macdonald-Cartier with 23. Sudbury’s Panthers (coached by Sebastian Gervais) also included Lina Audet, Alexis Belanger, Arielle Douillette, Meagan Hicks, Sophie Laforest, Megan Paquet, Tara Petitclerc, Kendra Roy, Caira Yanchuk and Samantha McGrath. …………………………………………………… The 19th-seeded Etobicoke Father Henry Carr Crusaders stomped the 14th-seeded Belle River Nobles 47-27 after leading 10-7, 25-11 and 33-25 at the quarters. The Nobles (coached by Frank Graziano, assisted by Jon Metler and Kanita Keskich) included Madison Finnerty, Abby Chambers, Gill Gagnier, Madison Jennings, Sydney Lavin, Kaitlyn Hurst, Claire Lazarus, Nicky Ens, Grace Black, Olivia Oriet, Madison Sanders and Ashiya Hucker. …………………………………………………… The 13th-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders edged the 20th-seeded Whitby Father Leo J. Austin Wildcats 46-43. The Crusaders led 16-10 after one quarter and 28-21 at the half. The score was knotted at 35 after three quarters. Rainey Psenicka led the Crusaders with 14. Mackenzy Arsenault led the Wildcats with 15. The Wildcats (coached by Rosa Baccelliere and Denise Navarro, assisted by Richard Dobson) also included Steffany Ashok, Julia Badjounda, Michelle Cruz, Kylea Dobson, Chantel F. Charles, Leslie Ann Harrison, Alexa Marie Hynes, Nadia Lindner, Alyssa Navarro, Brittany Ogundare, Toni Ogundare and Sarah Van Watershoot. …………………………………………………… The 18th-seeded Ottawa Immaculata Saints crushed the 15th-seeded Mississauga Applewood Heights Axemen 51-26 after leading 17-8, 29-10 and 40-12 at the quarters. The Axemen (coached by Warren Williams, assisted by Amanda Van Leeuwen) included Gabrielle Clarke, Angelic Ferrigon, Alyssa Jackson, Shawna Jackson, Kathryn Kauffeldt, Shanice Martin, Ana Milosevic, Stefanijz Mrvaljevic, Deja Patterson-Downey, Simran Sardana, Natalie Sebankova and Katie Smith.
In the third round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded London Mother Theresa Spartans clocked the 16th-seeded Picton Prince Edward Panthers 54-32 after leading 15-5, 23-20 and 46-23 at the quarters. Alison Cotton led the Spartans with 15. Hailey Van Rossum paced the Panthers with 12. The Panthers (coached by Rob Garden, assisted by Caitlin Garden) also included Alannah Burns, Lynsey Corbin, Allison Hegadorn, Casey Hegadorn, Mackenzie Leavitt, Abby Margetson, Leah Matthews, Kelli-Anne Maycock, Hannah Smith, Lydia Snider, Madison Turpin and Vanessa Willis. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Burlington Notre Dame Fighting Irish crushed the 19th-seeded Etobicoke Father Henry Carr Crusaders 63-35 after leading 13-7, 36-22 and 49-31 at the quarters. Skye Barbato paced the Leprechauns with 14. Christina Harris led the Crusaders with 8. The Crusaders (coached by Stephanie Plummer, assisted by Donna Jegede and Tonya Giuliani) also included Anisa De Abreu, Brittney English, Syrkera Lawrence, Precious Mbanugo, Faith Modeste, Rayshell Nyamekye, Nicole Osuigwe, Ashley Taylor and Tracey Yeboah. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Ecole Secondaire Catholique Theriault Flammes nipped the 8th-seeded Thunder Bay Hammarskjold Vikings 24-22 after leading 12-5, 22-13 and 24-14 at the quarters. Janelle Massicote paced the Flames with 9. Madison Wigwas led the Vikings with 9. The Vikings (coached by Bruno Corbin, assisted by Katie Ulakovic) also included Allison Brough, Sydney Charles, Alyson Korolenko, Julia MacGillivray, Lilly Peng, Hana Whalen and Autumn Ziebarth. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded St. Catharines Eden Eagles dispatched the 11th-seeded Ottawa Cairine Wilson Wildcats 42-35. The Wildcats led 17-15 after one quarter and 25-24 at the half. The Eagles led 33-28 after three quarters. Jenneke Pilling paced the Eagles with 16. Sylvie Strong led the Wildcats with 13. The Wildcats (coached by Murray Shoup, assisted by Kerra Wadle and Merrick Palmer) also included Jasmin Atwai, Michelle Ayotte, Ally Blackadar, Lauren Crupi, Kaylee Day, Zharia Gaillimore, Kenzie Hoffman, Hadezza Ismalia, Abigail Lea, Kayza Massey, Rachel Neumann and Navneet Sandhu. …………………………………………………… The 12th-seeded Burlington Nelson Lords stunned the 5th-seeded Agincourt Stephen Leacock Lions 59-55. The Lords led 20-12 after one quarter. The Lions led 30-25 at the half and 41-35 after three quarters. Erica Kingsley paced the Lords with 25. Onika Leveridge led the Lions with 42. The Lions (coached by Susan Zedzian) also included Hiba Alhuttan, Nagin Bakhtiyani, Vaishnave Balamuraly, Kaiya Crawford, Ojinebi Eklyor, Mariam Konate, Tianna Leveridge and Thuvaraga Seevaratnam. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Kingston La Salle Black Knights dusted the 10th-seeded Newmarket Dr. J.M. Denison Huskies 56-31 after leading 16-8, 31-13 and 40-22 at the quarters. Emma Hetherington paced the Black Knights with 17. Jazzy Johnson led the Huskies with 8. The Huskies (coached by Jackie Zicario, assisted by Brie Rurak and Sharyn Gilmer) also included Madelyn Brown, Tinek Grootenboer, Nikki Kordez, Courtney Lee, Melody Lucena, Andie MacPherson, Eileen Raisbeck and Ashley Singh. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Barrie St. Joseph’s Jaguars nipped the 13th-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders 50-47 after leading 19-16, 32-27 and 42-31 at the quarters. The Crusaders (coached by Mark Tonizzo, assisted by Jacy Leon) included Jada Codrington, Alysa Cortes, Robyn Hudecki, Jessica Mathieu, Audrey Porcellato, Rainey Psenicka, Olivia Roberts, Samantha Romero and Ronette Eimar. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Wallaceburg Tartans bombed the 18th-seeded Ottawa Immaculata Saints 51-17 after leading 8-4, 28-5 and 38-11 at the quarters. The Saints (coached by Chris Swenson, assisted by Diane Boisvert, Neil Purves and Mark Newell) included Gabriella Cincoleon, Rebecca Hyland, Lauren MacPhee, Dina Odwa, Katie Robinson, Mykaela Toth, Chloe Walker, Mia Weeks, Kishia Castillo, Michaella M. Hunter and Sara Mohamud.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded London Mother Theresa Spartans dumped the 9th-seeded Ecole Secondaire Catholique Theriault Flammes 60-44 after leading 15-7, 28-20 and 42-33 at the quarters. The Flammes (coached by Richard Cornell, assisted by Patrik Durepos) included Janelle Massicote, Thia Courchesne, Mikayla Dacosta, Celeste Deforge, Brianna Dubeau, Alexandria Duhaime, Courtney Lachapelle, Kiara Lee, Melanie Marin and Stephanie Marin.
The 3rd-seeded Burlington Notre Dame Fighting Irish edged the 6th-seeded St. Catharines Eden Eagles 47-45 despite trailing 16-10, 26-21 and 36-33 at the quarters. Melina Delulio hit a bucket 23 seconds to play as the Irish took their first lead and Skye Barbato added an insurance free throw. The Eagles (coached by Brian MacIsaac, assisted by Sara Vahrmeyer and John Pilling) included Dayna Bashford, Avery Cushing, Elisabeth deBoer, Tamara Edwards, Rachel Frena, Ashley Haine, Miranda Juras, Brittany Klassen, Jenneke Pilling, Kian Rego, Grayson Rouse, Alison Rowntree, Mackenzie Schroeder, Claire Terrio and Jeniah Wiens.
The 4th-seeded Barrie St. Joseph’s Jaguars stomped the 12th-seeded Burlington Nelson Lords 47-24 after leading 8-3, 27-10 and 38-14 at the quarters. The Lords (coached by Brittany Jackson, assisted by Sheelagh Boin) included Claire Anderson, Sabrina Bertussi, Jacqueline Boin, Stephanie Godden, Hannah Jack, Dylan Jessiman, Jenna Leslie, Margaret Malcolmson, Lexine McKenzie, Leah Mitchell, Hannah Moning, Bryn Rutherford and Aven Squires.
In the last quarterfinal, the 7th-seeded Kingston La Salle Black Knights nipped the 2nd-seeded Wallaceburg Tartans 44-43 after leading 21-9, 29-15 and 33-29 at the quarters. The Tartans (coached by Janine Day, assisted by Jeff Byrne and Linda Nethery) included Legacie Blackbird, Jaimi Chauvin, Shaelyn Denys, Brett Fischer, Ashleigh LaBlanche, Megan McCarter, Sydney Nutt, Kaitlyn Quinlan, Keahna Riley and Kristen Zelina.
In the semis, the top-seeded London Mother Theresa Spartans dispatched the 4th-seeded Barrie St. Joseph’s Jaguars 60-50. The score was knotted at 14 after one quarter. The Spartans led 27-23 at the half. The Jaguars led 38-37 after three quarters.
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Burlington Notre Dame Fighting Irish nipped the 7th-seeded Kingston La Salle Black Knights 36-35 after leading 10-4, 21-5 and 27-22 at the quarters. Guard Birute Bantye hit one of two free throws to win it for the Fighting Irish. Bantye had been fouled on a drive and as Deb Kamba helped her up off the floor, she offered her teammate some advice, the Burlington Post reported. “Don’t look at the clock,” she said. “We only need one.” Bantye missed her first but drained the second. “It was definitely the most stressful moment of my life,” Bantye said. “To be honest, I thought I’d missed it. I was getting ready to go for the rebound.”
In the bronze medal match, the 7th-seeded Kingston La Salle Black Knights dumped the 4th-seeded Barrie St. Joseph’s Jaguars 52-42 after leading 12-7, 28-16 and 42-33 at the quarters. The Jaguars (coached by Jerrold Van Dyk, assisted by Michelle May and Ralph May) included Katie Brown, Katelyn Cudmore, Sophie Graszat, Chloe Hamilton, Ikera Lee, Abbey McCauley, Natsuki Scvzokin, Zahra Teimiuri and Kyanna Thompson.
In the final, the 3rd-seeded Burlington Notre Dame Fighting Irish edged the top-seeded London Mother Theresa Spartans 53-49. The Spartans led 13-12 after one quarter. The Fighting Irish led 21-20 at the half and 38-34 after three quarters. Fighting Irish Skye Barbato played with a suspected torn meniscus in her knee but told the Burlington Post that “I was not about to sit out. It was my last high school game. I accepted that I could have done some more damage, but I was ready to play.” Barbato hit two free throws in the final seconds to ice the win. She finished with 19. “In Grade 9, I didn’t know how tough this would be,” Barbato said. “As we went along, we really started to understand how hard we would have to work. Our coaches took time away from their families, and we showed that hard work pays off.” Deb Kamba added 14 for the Fighting Irish. Coach Mark Freeman said ““Deb, all season long, was on the toughest girls on the other team. She would grind it out against them but it was a role she welcomed.” Freeman added that reserves Payton Hughes and Ketsia Kamba were outstanding when Barbato was forced to the bench. “It was unbelievable what they did to step up for us,” he said. Birute Bantye said “we’re a completely different team than we were at the beginning of the season. We had a few Grade 10s who had never played senior. We didn’t have our presses or our ball movement down. Our defence and our ability to work as a team are why we succeeded. I don’t think they were ready for us.” Freeman said “I’m sure there was a lot of adrenaline but for Skye to play hurt and go through that game and score 19 points, that was incredible. … Melina (the only Grade 11 starter), we told her ‘This is your team next year,” and she scores 16 points in the final. Ketsia, a Grade 10, is our leading rebounder. Megan, Birute and Deb, they just worked and worked and didn’t waiver. … Playing Mother Teresa wrapped up that storybook season. To see them again in the final game of the year was poetic.” Bantye said “it’s been our dream for 4 years to get to OFSAA. To actually win it, is just the cherry on top.”
The bronze medalist Kingston La Salle Black Knights: Madeline Coathup; Kaitlin Edwards; Abbey Hetherington; Emma Hetherington; Alyssa Kane; Jenna Kane; Sophie Langlois; Sarah Peirson; Bryn Reynolds; Alexa Sawchuk; Andrea Scott; coach Jason Reynolds; assistant Romulo Severino
The silver medalist London Mother Theresa Spartans: Czaryna Bascos; Alison Cotton; Samantha Cowan; McKenna Deering; Rylie Grogran; Celinda Lim; Neisa Long; Kendra Malcolmson; Nicole Nguyen; Isabella Ramirez; Laura T. Alvarez; Lauren Tennant; Laura Viner; coach Angela Campbell
The gold medalist Burlington Notre Dame Leprechauns: Birute Bantye; Skye Barbato; Mairin Clarke; Melina Delulio; Payton Hughes; Jaiden Jackson-Hughes; Ketsia Kamba; Meghan Starr, Tianna Tartaglia; Deborah Kamba; coach Mark Freeman; assistant Jon Low; manager Mackenzie Cauchi