In the opening round, held in Kenora: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Elgin Rideau District Lady Lions defeated the South Lincoln Bears 44-28 as Missy Stenzl scored 14. Lindsay Druery paced South Lincoln with 10. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded North Bay Ecole Secondaire Catholique Algonquin Barons defeated the Timmins O’Gorman Knights 59-17 as Kristine Zwolak scored 22. Alisha Luxton paced O’Gorman with 11. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded St. Mary’s DCVI Salukis crushed the Oakville King’s Christian Cavaliers 60-22 as Caleigh Hairsine scored 10. Fran Brand led King’s Christian with 12. …………………………………………………… The Tecumseh Ecole Secondaire L’Essor Les Aigles stunned the 8th-seeded Nipigon-Red Rock District Lakers 38-30 as Stephany Lavoie scored 12. Sam Chappell and Lil Mercanti each scored 10 to pace Nipigon-Red Rock District. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Hamilton Hillfield-Strathallan Trojans dumped the Barrie Ecole Secondaire Catholique Nouvelle-Alliance Les Tornades 36-28 as Sarah Matthews scored 15. Jenevieve Wojcicki paced Nouvelle-Alliance with 10. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Carleton Place Notre Dame Catholic Flames dumped the Kenora St. Thomas Aquinas Saints 43-29 as Lindsay MacGregor scored 16. Lizel DeGagne paced St. Thomas Aquinas with 12. …………………………………………………… The Kitchener Rockway Mennonite Flames stunned 4th-seeded Ottawa Elmwood 40-38 as Lydia Minkarious scored 13. Anneka Bakker paced the Eagles with 19. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded St. Catharines West Park Secondary Lady Warriors thrashed the Nelson A. Boylen Lady Skyhawks 76-51 as Jessie Rive scored 32. Tashawna Higgins paced Boylen with 29.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The North Bay Ecole Secondaire Catholique Algonquin Barons crushed the South Lincoln Bears 55-37 as Tanya Simard scored 17. Danielle McKeen paced South Lincoln with 12. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded St. Mary’s DCVI Salukis defeated the 8th-seeded Nipigon-Red Rock District Lakers 44-34 as Caleigh Hairsine scored 15. Sam Chappell paced Nipigon Red-Rock with 21. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Hamilton Hillfield-Strathallan Trojans dumped the Kenora St. Thomas Aquinas Saints 38-21 as Brinley Klievik scored 15. Jess Trent paced Saint Thomas Aquinas with 7. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Ottawa Elmwood Eagles defeated the 7th-seeded St. Catharines West Park Secondary Lady Warriors 54-47 as Anneka Bakker scored 24. Jessie Rive led West Park with 34. The Warriors (coach Harvie Haggerty, coach Natalie Currie) also included Cassendra Banting, Brandi Papineau, Erin MacDonald, Shay Hodgins, Erika Simpson, Caitlyn Robinson, Jocelyn Duguay, Megan Height, Sam Green, Krystina Morrone and Brooke Hockridge. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Rideau District Lady Lions defeated the Timmins O’Gorman Knights 42-23 as Becky Murray scored 14. Alisha Luxton paced O’Gorman with 13. …………………………………………………… The Tecumseh Ecole Secondaire L’Essor Les Aigles thrashed the Oakville King’s Christian Collegiate Cavaliers 55-20 as Bienka Jones scored 12. Elspeth Jones paced the Cavaliers with 10. …………………………………………………… The Barrie Ecole Secondaire Catholique Nouvelle-Alliance Les Tornades defeated the 5th-seeded Carleton Place Notre Dame Catholic Flames 45-34 as Sarah Daigle scored 10. Lindsay MacGregor paced Notre Dame with 12. The Flames (coached by Kathryn Kealey) also included Andrea Dakers, Holly Fumerton, Katie Howe, Alex Howard, Lindsay Levesque, J.J. McCartney, Anne Wilbond, Lindy Sgarbossa, Maddi McCarthy, Kristen MacDonald and Michelle Chaput. …………………………………………………… The North York Nelson A. Boylen Lady Skyhawks dumped the Kitchener Rockway Mennonite Flames 54-46 as Tashawna Higgins scored 29. Jaclyn Huiskamp paced Rockway with 11.
In the quarterfinals, the 6th-seeded North Bay Ecole Secondaire Catholique Algonquin Barons defeated the 3rd-seeded St. Mary’s DCVI Salukis 41-33 as Tanya Simard scored 22. Whitney Harris paced St. Mary’s with 16.
The 2nd-seeded Hamilton Hillfield-Strathallan Trojans dumped the 4th-seeded Ottawa Elmwood Eagles 39-21 as Brinley Klievik scored 20. Anneka Bakker paced Elmwood with 10.
The top-seeded Elgin Rideau District Lady Lions defeated the Tecumseh Ecole Secondaire L’Essor Les Aigles 43-34 as Missy Stenzl scored 15. Bienka Jones paced E.S. L’Essor with 13. Lions assistant coach Sean Christy told the Kingston Whig-Standard it was a “physical war” in the paint. Les Aigles broke to a 12-2 lead. Les Aigles (coached by Rob Jones, assisted by Lucien Gava) also included Michelle Chauvin, Kim Gouin, Danielle Desmarais, Stephany Lavoie, Jess-Lynn Sheehan.
The North York Nelson A. Boylen Lady Skyhawks defeated the Barrie Ecole Secondaire Catholique Nouvelle-Alliance Les Tornades 56-46 as Tashawna Higgins and Brittney Miller each scored 23. Danielle Marchand paced Nouvelle-Alliance with 17.
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Hamilton Hillfield-Strathallan Trojans defeated the 6th-seeded North Bay Ecole Secondaire Catholique Algonquin Barons 37-29 as Brinley Klievik and Sarah Matthews each scored 13. Kristine Zwolak paced Algonquin with 13.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Elgin Rideau District Lady Lions edged the North York Nelson A. Boylen Lady Skyhawks 45-41 as Missy Stenzl scored 16. Tashawna Higgins paced Boylen with 22, including 17 in the first half as the Skyhawks built a 30-22 lead. “I think we were a little bit in awe of how talented the girl was,” assistant Sean Christy told the Kingston Whig-Standard. “We had a spirited discussion in the locker room at the half and decided that we were going to re-intensify our efforts on defence.” The Lions began double-teaming Higgins in the second half and promptly ripped off a 16-4 run. “We had never used [the double-team] before and we’ll probably never use it again,” Christy said.
In the bronze medal match, the North Bay Ecole Secondaire Catholique Algonquin Barons whipped the North York Nelson A. Boylen Lady Skyhawks 54-33 as Tanya Simard scored 27. Tashawna Higgins led Boylen with 25.
In the final, the top-seeded Elgin Rideau District Lady Lions defeated the 2nd-seeded Hamilton Hillfield Strathallan Trojans 31-20 as Missy Stenzl scored 14 and Becky Murray 12. Catherine Parsons paced Hillfield-Strathallan with 6. “We’re really proud of the fact that we’re from Elgin and that a small community can boast such a successful basketball program,” Lions associate coach Sean Christy told the Kingston Whig-Standard. “I’m so proud and I feel so happy for the players, particularly for the ones that are finished their career,” said Christy. “The students have made so many sacrifices … staying at school for a couple of hours after their classes finished in order to have later practices so that I could get there. All of these little things really pay off in the long run and I’m just so happy for all of them that they had the chance to experience this. When you have student-athletes who are great people, you want them to have success because they deserve it and work so hard,” he said. Stenzl, who had earned enough credits to graduate from Rideau District last June, returned for one more semester with one purpose in mind – to win a gold medal in her fifth OFSAA appearance. This marked her fifth OFSAA basketball tournament, a feat matched by no other Lions athlete in any sport. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet for me.” Murray said “it feels pretty amazing. We’re so excited … really, really excited. We had to get [gold] this year. I thought to myself, ‘We better win so I don’t have to have nightmares again for half a year,” having lost the 2004 final. “I was happy just to be back again, but once I knew we were coming I wanted the gold and didn’t want to go home with anything but that,” Murray added. Stenzl said “I didn’t know if I could go home if we didn’t win this medal. It was the longest 10 hours (after the 2004 final) I’ve ever spent.” she said. Christy said Murray and Stenzl “just decided that they were going to do whatever it took to win the championship and they went out and did it. … Coming into the final, we knew there was no way it could be any tougher than our previous two games. We knew there was nothing that could happen to us in that final game that we weren’t ready for.” Stenzl said that “last year, it felt like we were expected to win and then when we didn’t, it was really upsetting. This year it felt like, ‘We can win, so if we do it’ll be really great, but if we don’t, we still did a good job’.”
The bronze medalist North Bay Ecole Secondaire Catholique Algonquin Barons: Kristine Zwolak; Ashley Brosseau; Robynn Duchesne; Blair Kitlar; Sylvie Leblond; Alex Mantha; Candace McGirr; Mila Paris; Sophie Reynolds; Tanya Simard; Catrine Trudel; coach Tim Lowe; coach Janelle Birtch; assistant Michele Leveille
The silver medalist Hamilton Hillfield-Strathallan Trojans: Brinley Klievik; Sarah Mathews; Catherine Parsons; Katie Camani-Connell; Andrea Cross; Mary Matthews; Alison McIntyre; Alyson Miller; Petra Olivieri; Jenna Robertson; Nikita Roy; Nina Roy; coach Jeff Wilkinson; assistant Sylvia Griffin.
The gold medalist Elgin Rideau District Lady Lions: Missy Stenzl; Ceilidh Beveridge; Trish Laming; Mandy Ramdhanie; Rebecca Roantree; Natica Smith; Steffi Stenzl; Nicola Stone; Becky Murray; Missy Melo; coach Ron Stenzl; assistant Sean Christy