In the opening round, held in Hamilton: …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish dumped the Toronto Forest Hill Falcons 57-39 as Judy Helstab scored 13, Marie MacDonald 12 and Nancy Helstab 11. Notre Dame trailed 16-13 at the half. Debbie Ballshin paced Forest Hill with 22. Heidi Lappetino scored 17 to account for the remainder of the Falcons points. The Falcons also included Fern Cooper. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Hamilton Bishop Ryan Celtics whacked the North York A.Y. Jackson Jaguars 134-18 as Theresa Grant scored 32, Debbie Knowles 23, Linda Palango 22 and Marie Grant 21 and Jo Anne Drake 15.0. The Celtics led 16-0 early, 40-2 after the first quarter and 68-10 at the half. Celtics coach Joe DiTripani told the Hamilton Spectator that “we didn’t try to run up the score. We stopped our press and kept switching our defences to try and keep the score down. The only time we had any offensive thrusts was when one of the girls would steal the ball and go in for a layup. … They kids were really hyper for this game. I’d say we probably shot between 75 and 80 per cent from the floor and that was because most of our shots were layups.” Jody Guthrie led the Jaguars with 6. …………………………………………………… Parry Sound clipped the Fort Williams Blue Bears 52-48. …………………………………………………… Second-seeded Ottawa Confederation downed the Timmins E.C.S. Theriault Flammes 52-28 (also reported as 53-28) as Sandy Gurnett scored 17 and Ingrid Kihl 11. Confederation coach Meredith Harrod told the Ottawa Citizen “the girls were worried before the game because they had never seen the opposition, didn’t know the other teams’ offencea and defence, or their calibre. But they settled down quickly.” …………………………………………………… Brighton East Northumberland defeated Toronto Overlea 55-40. Overlea (coached by Mike Orlando) included Lex Creavalle, Cheryl Grant, Kelly Ferguson. …………………………………………………… The Mississauga Erindale Raiders dumped the London South Secondary Lions 68-58. The Raiders included Michelle Wright, Linda Wirkowski. …………………………………………………… The Scarborough Cardinal Newman Knights defeated the Kingston Lasalle Black Knights 49-40. Cardinal Newman included Monica Wensing, Elaine Stewart. The Black Knights (coached by Doug Fraser) included Linda Godfrey, Dianne Ireland, Peggy Reid, Marg Herrington, Michele Lawford, Mary Lou Wright, Diane Godfrey, Tracy Baxter, Hazel Mandy, Gladys Smith and Holly Conway. …………………………………………………… The Hamilton Cardinal Newman Cardinals edged the Kingsville District Cavaliers 46-42. Cardinals coach Mark Baldasaro told the Hamilton Spectator that “our execution was off and our shooting was poor. We missed about 7 or 8 layups in a row at the start or I think we could have put the game away early.” The Cavaliers (coached by Tom Campbell, assisted by Dennis Ducharme) included Linda Zwiers, Karen Hillier, Luanne Irwin, Joanne Reffle. …………………………………………………… The Sudbury North Stars defeated Preston 51-36.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… Ottawa Confederation torched the Fort William Blue Bears 63-20 as Ingrid Kihl scored 20 and Sandy Gurnett 14. ………………………………………………… The Hamilton Bishop Ryan Celtics torched the London South Lions 104-53. …………………………………………………
In the quarterfinals, the Hamilton Bishop Ryan Celtics defeated the Timmins E.S.C. Theriault Flammes 96-46 as Theresa Grant scored 24, Laura Triccoli 18 and Marie Grant 16. Celtics coach Joe DiTrapani told the Hamilton Spectator that “it was a little easier than I thought. … We jumped in front 12-2, so I called off the press. The kids wanted 100 points but I didn’t think it was right.” Gay Melville led the Flammes with 13. Lise Belanger added 11.
The Sudbury North Stars dispatched the Scarborough Cardinal Newman Knights 48-39. The Knights (coached by E Timmermans) included Perla Castelluccio, Brenda Murphy, Sandra Ruscjolelli, Joanne Benadetto, Francine Karloska, Monica Wensing, Sue Schlumberger, Anne Kinsella, Ann Bermingham and Elcie Stewaal.
The 3rd-seeded Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Hamilton Cardinal Newman Cardinals 72-44 as Marie MacDonald scored 20. Helen Murphy led the Cardinals with 21. Cardinals coach Mark Baldasero told the Hamilton Spectator that “I have no regrets about losing … Our game plan was to keep them outside, especially Marie McDonald. We did that and she proceeded to hit about 80 per cent from the outside. She was incredible.”x.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Ottawa Confederation edged the Mississauga Erindale Raiders 42-40 as Ingrid Kihl scored 14 and Sandy Gurnett 13. Confederation coach Meredith Harrod told the Ottawa Journal that “it was very close all the way. It was a real tense thriller.” Confederation led by two with two minutes to play and went into a stall. “But we turned it over to them four times and they scored once. We didn’t do a very good job. They had super shooting. They were firing it up from miles away. … with not so much under the basket.” Julie Auchterlonie said “it was terrible. It was harder than we’re used to.”
In the semis, the Hamilton Bishop Ryan Celtics defeated the Sudbury North Stars 51-46. But it took a 16-0 run in the final 5.5 minutes to accomplish the task. “We were lucky,” said Celtics coach Joe DiTrapani. “The turning point was when No. 44 (Janice St. Marseille) fouled out with five and a half minutes left. She was probably the best player in the tournament.” Di Tripani told the Hamilton Spectator that St. Marseille “totally dominated us while she was in the game. We jumped in front 15-6 in that game and I thought we were in good position. We started to run into foul trouble and before I knew it, we were down 11 points. Janice is a class ballplayer. She broke our press and no one has done that to us all year. Our bench was pretty down but when she (Janice) got three quick fouls, we came alive and went to town on them.” Theresa Grant led the Celtics with 17. Debbie Knowles added 9. St. Marseille scored 23 (also reported as 19) for Sudbury before fouling out with 5:30 to play.
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated 2nd-seeded Ottawa Confederation 61-38 as Marie MacDonald scored 16. Louise MacDonald added 13 and Paula MacDonald 12. Ingrid Kihl led Confederation with 14. Sheila Nesbit added 11 and Sandy Gurnett 9. Confederation coach Meredith Harrod told the Ottawa Citizen that “they were just deadly from outside and we couldn’t put it together.”
There is no evidence of a bronze medal match.
In the final, the Hamilton Bishop Ryan Celtics defeated the Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish 77-50 as Theresa Grant scored 33, including 18 in the third quarter. Linda Palango added 14 and Debbie Knowles 12. Celtics coach Joe DiTrapini told the Hamilton Spectator that “I knew at halftime of the championship game that we weren’t in any trouble. Theresa was doing a job on Louise (McDonald) and without her they don’t have a strong offence.” The Celtics led 16-8, 38-19 and 67-35 at the quarters. Nancy Helstab led Notre Dame with 15. Marie MacDonald and Louise MacDonald each added 10.
The co-bronze medalist Sudbury North Stars: Janice St. Marseille; Donna Zirojevic; Marie Tschchkalin; Ellen Park; Dorothy Shehovoc; coach Peter Ennis
The co-bronze medalist Ottawa Confederation: Ingrid Kihl; Sandy Gurnett; Sheila Nesbitt; Julie Auchterlonie; coach Meredith Harrod; assistant Linda Jamieson
The silver medalist Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Nancy Helstab; Marie MacDonald; Louise MacDonald; Judy Helstab; Paula MacDonald;
The champion Hamilton Bishop Ryan Celtics: Nancy Szoke; Mary Jo Cox; Linda Palango; Debbie Knowles; Jo Anne Drake; Winnie Quinn; Laura Triccoli; Marie Grant; Theresa Grant; coach Joe DiTrapani; manager Joyce Musial; manager Gloria Fioravanti