In the opening round, held in Hamilton: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Hamilton St. Mary Crusaders whipped the 11th-seeded Etobicoke Michael Power/St. Joseph Trojans 65-42 after leading 20-13, 31-25 and 47-40 at the quarters. April Coyne paced the Crusaders with 21. Emilija Davidociv led the Trojans with 16. ………………………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Ajax Pickering Trojans clubbed the 16th-seeded Barrie St. Joseph’s Jaguars 45-29 after leading 10-0, 21-11 and 35-16 at the quarters. Cienna Walker led the Trojans with 14. Andrea Moreau led the Jaguars with 16. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Ancaster Bishop Tonnos Titans dumped the 9th-seeded Waterloo Collegiate Vikings 43-21. The Vikings led 8-6 after one quarter. The score was knotted at 14 at the half. The titans led 33-16 after three quarters. Jamie Hutcheson paced the Titans with 23. Lindsay Taylor and Bria Dietrich each scored 6 to pace the Vikings. …………………………………………………… The 14th-seeded Ottawa Glebe Collegiate Gryphons nipped the 8th-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints 54-52 after leading 17-11, 31-22 and 40-36 at the quarters. Grace Foran paced the Gryphons with 16. Vaneil Simpson led the Saints with 12. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Brantford St. John’s Green Eagles swamped the 12th-seeded Scarborough David & Mary Thomson Titans 64-41 after leading 19-15, 37-20 and 52-34 at the quarters. Kelly Van Leeuwen led the Green Eagles with 26. Kayla Santilli added 17 and Arielle Mendoza 9. Melissa Llelwellyn paced the Titans with 19. Kelly Van Leeuwen hit a three-pointer to give St. John’s an 8-7 lead midway through the first quarter, which the Eagles would never relinquish. The Eagles’ defence sparked St. John’s to outscoring Thomson 18-5 in the second quarter. Van Leeuwen and Kayla Santilli were the 1-2 offensive punch Thomson couldn’t counter. Van Leeuwen finished with 26 points and Santilli netted 17. Arielle Mendoza added nine points. “Our team came out strong and ready to play,” Eagles coach Steve Van Leeuwen said. “We kept our intensity throughout the game on defence and that turned into our offence. “It’s always good to have a tough game to get us ready for what’s to come. Our intensity will, hopefully, transfer over to our next game. The first game is always tough. You’ve got nerves, apprehension and pressure. It’s good to get a win under your belt. I was surprised we shot as poorly as we did. We missed some layups and some wide-open shots but that’s OK.” …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded London John Paul II Jaguars clipped the 15th-seeded Brampton Notre Dame Knights 61-45 after leading 16-11, 34-22 and 48-31 at the quarters. Katelyn Carriere paced the Jaguars with 20. Danielle Carriere added 13. Chenel Johnson led the Knights with 16. “Great team play,” said coach Peter Lambert. “Everyone got in, everyone got great minutes and everyone did a great job. They had the jitters to start off, and we expected that, but once they got into the game, they got into a nice rhythm.” It also helped when they changed the game ball at halftime. “The first was actually warped,” Lambert said. “Almost none of our shots were falling in the first half, but once they changed it, they started dropping.” …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Hamilton Westdale Warriors stunned the 4th-seeded Tecumseh St. Anne Saints 51-46. The Warriors led 17-14 after one quarter. The Saints led 26-22 at the half. Westdale led 38-35 after three quarters. Nicole Morrison paced the Warriors with 14. Lexie Spadafora added 13 and Emma Smallwood 5. Andrea Kiss and Anna Mullins each scored 14 to lead the Saints. Led by its young backcourt tandem of Nicole Morrison and Lexie Spadafora, the Warriors played with poise. The pair, along with Samantha Donald came up through the ranks with Warriors’ coach Glenn Hillis. He coached them at Blessed Sacrament to two Ontario Basketball Association club team championships and one Eastern Canadian major bantam title. Four others who Hillis coached to provincial crowns are members of Westdale’s SOSSA junior championship squad. “Coach Glenn taught us to deal with the pressure well,” said Morrison. “So being in those situations, you take a breath and play your game. It’s really beneficial to have him as our coach.” Morrison and Spadafora were in Grade 9 last year when Westdale came up empty at OFSAA. This season, Warriors regained both the Hamilton high school and SOSSA crowns. Westdale strung together 11 unanswered points during a stretch in the third and fourth quarters. A three-point basket by Andrea Kiss of the SWOSSA champions with 6.3 seconds left sliced the deficit to three points. Then, after Morrison was fouled and missed on both of her free-throw attempts, Careena Browne of the Warriors grabbed the rebound, got fouled and drained both of her shots from the charity stripe with 3.6 seconds remaining. “I usually make those free throws at the end,” Morrison said. “I was kind of disappointed in myself. This was a wonderful win for us. It was such a back and forth game. We felt good about it coming in, but we knew it would be a battle.” Hillis said the twin-sister combination of Carissa and Careena Browne also played a key role with their defensive efforts and inbound plays against the press in the late stages. Morrison said it felt great to finally defeat St. Anne after two narrow losses to them — one in double overtime when Spadafora and Morrison had fouled out, and the other by one point — earlier this season in tournament play. “We’ve been waiting for this game to happen,” Morrison said. “During one of our team talks, we said how great it would be to play St. Anne during the first game of OFSSA because we wanted to beat them so bad.” …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Unionville Bill Crothers Colts crushed the 13th-seeded Brampton St. Edmund Campion Bears 51-35 after leading 17-7, 27-21 and 39-25 at the quarters. Lindsay Shotbolt led the Colts with 21. Teleshia Riley paced the Bears with 9.
In the second elimination round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Hamilton St. Mary’s Crusaders stomped the 16th-seeded Barrie St. Joseph’s Jaguars 68-32 after leading 20-14, 43-18 and 58-26 at the quarters. Amira Giannattasio paced the Crusaders with 14. Adrienne Moreau led the Jaguars with 11. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Waterloo Collegiate Vikings edged the 14th-seeded Ottawa Glebe Collegiate Gryphons 43-41. The Gryphons led 12-10, 23-16 and 35-26 at the quarters. The Vikes used a 17-6 push in the final frame to pull out the win, though they trailed 41-39 with 26 seconds on the clock. Alyssa Shortt paced the Vikings with 19. Grace Foran and Fairsai Meki each scored 9 to lead the Gryphons. The Gryphons (coached Alex Overwijk, assisted by Kadie Riverin) also included Farisai Meki, Haley Max-Lino, Rebecca Pan, Zoe Mackintosh, Emma Landry, Kashini Thomas, Marlene Maione, Laura Bland-Lasso, Alex Bateman, Sore Olawale, Caitlyne Brewer and Chanti Mcnaughton. ………………………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded London John Paul II Jaguars clocked the 12th-seeded Scarborough David & Mary Thomson Titans 57-36 after leading 15-9, 25-18 and 52-24 at the quarters. Katelyn Carriere led the Jaguars with 26. Melissa Lewellyn led the Titans with 14. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Hamilton Westdale Warriors clobbered the 13th-seeded Brampton St. Edmund Campion Bears 42-28. The Bears led 9-6 after one quarter. The Warriors led 22-13 at the half and 32-14 after three quarters. Alexis Spadafora led the Warriors with 11. Jose Ann Johnson led the Bears with 7. …………………………………………………… The 11th-seeded Etobicoke Michael Power/St. Joseph Trojans clipped the 6th-seeded Ajax Pickering Trojans 37-29 after leading 9-2, 17-7 and 27-17 at the quarters. Cheyanne Roger led Michael Power/St. Joseph with 8. Tekima Millington-Rowe and Taijah Campbell each scored 6 to lead Pickering. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Ancaster Bishop Tonnos Titans defeated the 8th-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints 49-40 after leading 18-5, 25-18 and 38-27 at the quarters. Carly Files led the Titans with 15. Shaneeka Matthew led the Saints with 12. The Saints also included Vaniel Simpson. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Brantford St. John’s Green Eagles clocked the 15th-seeded Brampton Notre Dame Knights 68-32 after leading 10-9, 25-21 and 56-25 at the quarters. Kelly Van Leeuwen led the Green Eagles with 19. Kayla Santilli added 15, Caroline Rebry 8, Katie Polischuk 6, Shawni Hnatiuk 5, Rachel Cleary 4 and Deidra McDermid 4. Chenel Johnson paced the Knights with 13. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Tecumseh St. Anne Saints dusted the 7th-seeded Unionville Bill Crothers Colts 52-39 after leading 12-7, 30-17 and 36-26 at the quarters. Anna Mullins led the Saints with 21. Lindsay Shotbolt led the Colts with 11.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Hamilton St. Mary’s Crusaders stomped the 9th-seeded Waterloo Collegiate Vikings 66-29 after leading 20-7, 43-13 and 58-20 at the quarters. April Coyne paced the Crusaders with 15. Alyssa Shortt led the Vikings with 13.
The 5th-seeded London John Paul II Jaguars stomped the 10th-seeded Hamilton Westdale Warriors 69-38 after leading 14-4, 29-13 and 51-33 at the quarters. Katelyn Carriere paced the Jaguars with 26. Danielle Carriere added 20. Erica Saabas, Adisa Deliovsky, Alexis Spadafora and Nicole Morrison each scored 6 to lead the Warriors. “The girls played fantastic and we had a busload of fans come from John Paul II and their spirit was just amazing; the girls really rode their wave of enthusiasm,” coach Peter Lambert said. “And defensively, the kids played well.” The Warriors, coached by Glenn Hillis, included Emma Stallwood, Keira McKee, Nicole Morrison, Careena Browne, Carissa Browne, Lexie Spadafora, Samantha Donald, Nicole Bellemarre, Adisa Deliovsky, Sarah O’Brien, Kaitlynn Marquard, Erin Syrotiuk and Erica Saabas.
The 3rd-seeded Ancaster Bishop Tonnos Titans dumped the 11th-seeded Etobicoke Michael Power/St. Joseph Trojans 46-31 after leading 14-9, 24-19 and 35-27 at the quarters. Titans coach Mike DiFederico told the Hamilton Spectator that “getting this deep into OFSAA for the first time in school history is unbelievable. It’s a great ride. We don’t want it to end. … We had a really tough time stopping (6-4 Cheyenne) Roger. We don’t any size to match that. We had to try to pick up the tempo of the game. That was really the different in the second half. Our pressure kind of wore them down. Going into the halfcourt trap really helped us too. … (Jamie Hutcheson) is our scorer and always plays well. But when things started to get tight, Carly (Files) kept her composure and kept us under control. That was really important.” Jamie Hutcheson paced the Titans with 21. Cheyanne Roger led the Trojans with 17. The Trojans also included Julia Soriano.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Brantford St. John’s Green Eagles dusted the 4th-seeded Tecumseh St. Anne Saints 52-39 after leading 11-2, 15-12 and 36-20 at the quarters. “Our defensive intensity was great,” said Eagles head coach Steve Van Leeuwen. “We have to play good defence in order to compete with teams at this level.” St. John’s was forced to take its star point guard and Niagara University-bound Kelly Van Leeuwen off the floor at the 4:14 mark of the second quarter when she was charged with her second foul. St. Anne reduced the Eagles’ lead to three at the half but St. John’s turned up its defensive pressure in the third quarter and ripped off a 21-8 run. Kayla Santilli led the Eagles with 20. Deidra McDermid and Van Leeuwen each added 8, Arielle Mendoza 6, Rachel Cleary 5 and Caroline Rebry 4. “It was definitely defence that got us going,” Van Leeuwen said. “Defence started our transition. Kelly is the general on the court. It’s point guard by committee when she’s not on the court. We try to run our sets but it’s not quite the same.” Rachel Duic led the Saints with 12. The Saints also included Andrea Kiss, Emily Omahen, Tori LaRocque, Tiffany Trembley, Amanda Milanis, Anna Mullins.
In the semis, the top-seeded Hamilton St. Mary’s Crusaders dumped the 5th-seeded London John Paul II Jaguars 55-40 after leading 21-7, 35-20 and 46-34 at the quarters. Karly Roser paced the Crusaders with 16. Coleen Daly added 13. Katelyn Carriere led the Jaguars with 15. Danielle Carriere added 12.
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Ancaster Bishop Tonnos Titans nipped the 2nd-seeded Brantford St. John’s Green Eagles 41-37 after leading 11-10, 23-18 and 27-23 at the quarters. Carly Files led the Titans with 11. Kelly Van Leeuwen led the Green Eagles with 13. Rachel Cleary added 10, Deidra McDermid 5, Kayla Santilli 5, Arielle Mendoz 2 and Carolyn Rebry 2. “We competed, we just didn’t shoot the ball very well,” said Green Eagles coach Steve Van Leeuwen. “We got ourselves in a hole by not shooting the ball well. They (John Paul II) hit their foul shots (down the stretch). They did what they had to win. You show your true character when you face adversity and our girls showed true character out there. They didn’t give up and it’s easy to give up when things don’t go your way.”
In the bronze medal match, the 5th-seeded London John Paul II Jaguars edged the 2nd-seeded Brantford St. John’s Green Eagles 55-54 after leading 17-10, 33-22 and 41-40 at the quarters. Danielle Carriere led the Jaguars with 26. Kelly Van Leeuwen paced the Green Eagles with 22. Carolyn Rebry added 10, Kayla Santilli 9, Rachel Cleary 5 and Deidra McDermid 5. Danielle Carriere completed a three-point play with eight seconds left to give John Paul II the win. “We were up 33-22 at halftime and I said, ‘Girls, get ready. We’re going to have to weather the storm because they’re not going to roll over.’ And they didn’t,” Jaguars head coach Peter Lambert said of St. John’s, adding Kristine Canas made a vital contribution, scoring six first-quarter points with guard Katelyn Carriere off with an elbow problem. Green Eagles coach Steve Van Leeuwen said “it’s a heart-breaking way to end the season. (But) how many teams can say they’re the fourth best team in Ontario. It’s quite an accomplishment and some people go their whole career just to get to OFSAA. In the last three years, our girls have been first, second and fourth. That’s pretty impressive.” The Green Eagles were up two points when Jaguars’ Danielle Carriere made an old-fashioned three-point play with eight seconds remaining in regulation time to give John Paul II a one-point lead. Kelly Van Leeuwen attempted a 17-foot, game-winning shot for the Eagles with three seconds remaining but the shot failed. “I give full credit to the other team,” Van Leeuwen said. “They played very well but anytime you have a shot to win at the end of the game, you can’t be unhappy with that. … It was a difficult game for our girls to play. They were disappointed after losing the semifinal.”
In the final, the top-seeded Hamilton St. Mary’s Crusaders clubbed the 3rd-seeded Ancaster Bishop Tonnos Titans 58-47. The score was knotted at 13 after one quarter. The Crusaders led 26-22 at the half and 40-28 after three quarters. Colleen Daly paced the Crusaders with 19, including five from beyond the arc. Karly Roser added 18 and April Coyne 8. Jamie Hutcheson led the Titans with 21. Haillie Price added 9 and Alexandra Bonin 6. The Crusaders had defeated the Titans 66-36 for the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic title a week earlier. “I didn’t know how much Tonnos would have left in the tank after their semifinal,” Crusaders coach Rich Wesolowski said. “But they played very well. We have such a strong league. We make each other better.” The Crusaders took a 40-28 lead into the final quarter but saw that advantage shrink to six points with two minutes remaining. But Colleen Daly embed the dagger with a trey and the Crusaders iced the win with seven free throws down the stretch. “She’s a deadly shooter,” said Tonnos coach Mike Di Federico. “We did a pretty good job of stopping her during the game, but it was the times in transition that we lost her. She’s tough.” Daly called the win “a team effort. We have Grade 9s to Grade 12s. And the group is amazing. Everyone works together and gets along in school and outside of sports. I think it shows on the court.” Wesolowski said “we maybe had a little more experience on our side in terms of us being here last year (the bronze medal game). And the seniors really pulled us through. Especially Karly, Colleen and Lucy Reid. They sort of knew this was their swan song. They played awesome. They did enough to carry us over the lulls.” Di Frederico said “from the beginning, people were questioning us as the 3 seed. They might not have respected us when the tournament started (11 loses), but they respect us now. We beat More and the undefeated Halton champions from Burlington Notre Dame to get here. … Having two Hamilton teams in the final of OFSAA competing like that is unbelievable. Sometime it doesn’t seem sportsmanlike on the floor. They battle pretty hard. But when all is said and done there’s a lot of good friends between the teams. A lot of them are teammates on other rep teams outside of the Catholic league.”
The bronze medalist London John Paul II Jaguars: Katelyn Carriere; Danielle Carriere; Victoria Heine; coach Peter Lambert
The silver medalist Ancaster Bishop Tonnos Titans: Jamie Hutcheson; Carly Files; Beck Ralph; Siobhan Skippen; Alexandra Bonin; Haillie Price; Nicole Guarraci; coach Mike Di Federico
The gold medalist Hamilton St. Mary’s Crusaders: April Coyne; Amira Giannattasio; Karly Roser; Colleen Daly; Jenna Bugiardini; Emily Hanaka; Lucy Reid; Emily Piccini; Hilary Hanaka; Olivia Bonomo; Katarina DiFazio; Christina Buttenham; coach Rich Wesolowski; assistant Jessie Lamparski; assistant Nate McKibbon