In the opening round, held in Windsor: …………………………………………………… The Etobicoke Kipling Wildcats defeated the Nepean Bell Bruins 54-32 as Joy Bellinger and Michelle Hopkins each scored 14. …………………………………………………… The Windsor Vincent Massey Mustangs edged the West Toronto Warriors 53-50 as Misty Thomas scored 22 and Janet Mallander 10. Georgina Jallimore led West Toronto with 19. Debbie Grannum added 18. West Toronto also included Danny Hawrylowicz. …………………………………………………… The Belleville Moira Trojans nipped the Scarborough Cardinal Newman Knights 32-30. …………………………………………………… The Guelph John F. Ross Royals torched the Port Arthur Hammarskjold Vikings 80-31. …………………………………………………… The Sudbury Marymount Academy dusted the Belle River St. Anne Catholic Saints 59-27. …………………………………………………… The Orillia District Blues clipped the Chatham John McGregor Panthers 43-33. …………………………………………………… The Hamilton Bishop Ryan Celtics torched the Cornwall General Vanier Vikings 72-53 as Debbie Knowles scored 17, Winnie Quinn 16 and Linda Matasej 16, while Theresa Grant nabbed 10 boards. The Celtics led 20-4 after one quarter and 32-27 at the half, while hitting 29-92 from the floor. Celtics coach Joe DiTrapani told the Hamilton Spectator that “we changed from a zone to a man-to—man defence in the second half and it seemed to work out. We didn’t play all that well and it’s hard to say why not. It could be getting used to the new gym and pressure on us. People expecting us to do well because of the streak. … It’s been a long time since we’ve been outsized like that. You have give them credit. They never died. They came back and came back.” …………………………………………………… The London Westminster Wildcats edged the Burlington M.M. Robinson Rams 49-46. …………………………………………………… The Catharines Governor Simcoe Redcoats clocked the Timmins Ecole Secondaire Theriault Flammes 55-27.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The Sudbury Marymount Acadmey dumped the West Toronto Warriors 44-22. ……………………………………………………
In the third round: …………………………………………………… The Etobicoke Kipling Wildcats defeated the Cornwall General Vanier Vikings 52-30 as Sharon MacFarlane scored 13, Michelle Hopkins 12 and Joy Bellinger 12. …………………………………………………… The Windsor Vincent Massey Mustangs defeated Belle River St. Anne Catholic Saints 37-34 as Misty Thomas scored 12, Mallander 8, Sharon Lester 7. Misty Thomas hit two field goals in the last minute and a pair of free throws with four seconds to go. Thomas told the Windsor Star “I guess we’re getting to be a comeback team. But I didn’t like that. I want to get ahead and stay ahead.” Mullins led Belle River with 16. Belle River coach Dick Bowen said “I thought our girls played well. We missed a few shots but then nobody shoots 100%.” …………………………………………………… The St. Catharines Governor Simcoe Redcoats defeated the Burlington M.M. Robinson Rams 68-32 as Lynn Polson scored 14, Wendy Quinn 14, Cheryl Patterson 10 and Sandy Pothier 10. …………………………………………………… The Guelph John F. Ross Royals defeated the Scarborough Cardinal Newman Knights 51-37 as Alice France scored 18 and Tracy Mclean 17. Monica Wensing led the Knights (coached by Emile Timmermans) with 15. …………………………………………………… The Belleville Moira Trojans dumped the Port Arthur Hammarskjold Vikins 45-27. …………………………………………………… The Sudbury Marymount Academy defeated the Chatham John McGregor Panthers 53-32. …………………………………………………… The London Westminster Wildcats crushed the Timmins E.C.S. Theriault Flammes 49-36. …………………………………………………… The Hamilton Bishop Ryan Celtics whipped the Nepean Bell Bruins 96-44 (also reported as 96-41), as Theresa Grant scored 13, Debbie Knowles 12, Winnie Quinn 12, Linda Mataseje 10, Yolanda Lenart 10 and Carolyn Oliver 10. “They are absolutely the best girls’ basketball team I have ever seen,” Bruins coach Dianne Langlois told the Ottawa Journal. “And that includes both high school and university team. They hustle all the time and shoot very well. They are hard to compete with. I understand that in their league season, they were never held to less than 100 points in a single game.” Bonnie McNaughton paced the Bruins with 14. Debbie Power added 12. The Bruins also included Cheryl Power. Langlois accused Celtics coach Joe Di Tripani of running up the score by using a full-court press the whole game. Di Tripani said “I didn’t play any starters in the second half. We don’t run up the score – we play man-to-man and full-court all the time. That’s the style we play. If we don’t win, at least we’ll be exciting.” The Celtics led 26-9, 52-17 and 73-26 at the quarters.
In the quarterfinals, the St. Catharines Governor Simcoe Redcoats defeated the Etobicoke Kipling Wildcats 62-40 as Cheryl Patterson scored 19, Karen Grisewood 17 and Lynn Polson 12. The Redcoats led 25-20 at the half. The Wildcats (coached by Virginia Pearson) included Joy Bellinger, Chris Kitchen, Sharon MacFarlane, Michelle Hopkins.
The Guelph John F. Ross Royals defeated the Windsor Vincent Massey Mustangs 47-39 as Tracy MacLean scored 22. The Royals led 24-21 at the half and 38-33 after three quarters. Mustangs coach Honore Loughlin told the Windsor Star that “they are a super bunch of girls. They didn’t give up. They never gave up today. … We were in it til the end.” MacLean said “we didn’t play well in the first half at all. We were slow and we weren’t rebounding. Massey was making us rush our shots and we were taking a lot of shots we didn’t want to. Massey likes to fast-break offence. We like to play control ball.” The Mustangs (coached by Honore Loughlin) included Misty Thomas, Mallander, Sharon Lester, Trisha Ble.
The Belleville Moira Trojans edged Sudbury Marymount 36-35.
In the last quarterfinal, the Hamilton Bishop Ryan Celtics clubbed the London Westminster Wildcats 73-48 as Theresa Grant scored 20, Winnie Quinn 12, Debbie Knowles 12 and Linda Mataseje 12. (Also reported as Palango 10, Mataseje 10 and Quinn 10). Celtics coach Joe DiTrapani told the Hamilton Spectator that “obviously, the underdog is the better place to be because they have everything to win, while the favourites have everything to lose. But teams are trying to get to us early and they are tiring themselves out. …. We had Winnie against (6-2 Rita) Buerhrman, while Theresa played (5-11 Julie) Allen. Their height difference hurt us but we knew could handle it.” Julie Allen led the Wildcats with 20. Wildcats coach Bernie Wilkinson said “we’ve been geared up all year for this game. They are a very good team and we gave it our best shot.”
In the semis, the Hamilton Bishop Ryan Celtics torched the Belleville Moira Trojans 94-25.
In the other semi, the St. Catharines Governor Simcoe Redcoats defeated the Guelph John F. Ross Royals 54-43 as Lynn Polson scored 17 and Cheryl Patterson 14. Jane France led the Royals with 17.
In the final, the Hamilton Bishop Ryan Celtics captured their 139th straight win in a row, and third consecutive title, by defeating the St. Catherine’s Governor Simcoe Redcoats 58-57 as Theresa Grant scored 27, Debbie Knowles 11, Linda Palango 10. Karen Grisewood led the Redcoats with 23. Lynn Polson added 20 and Sandy Pothier 9. “I never thought that the team was going to be as good as it was or that the streak would go on as long as it did,” said Celtics coach Joe Di Trapani. “I just wanted a good team.” The four graduating seniors – Linda Palango, Debbie Knowles, Theresa Grant and Winnie Quinn — had played together for three years and all 139 games. Knowles and Grant had played on the senior team for five years. Di Trapani had built the team in 1974 by having the then grade nine students in the starting line-up. “There was a lot of resentment from the older girls but I felt it was the best route and it worked well for us.” Centre Winnie Quinn drew three quick fouls in the first quarter and sat out the second. Also suffering an ankle injury, she didn’t play again until the fourth quarter. Knowles hit two free throws with six seconds to play to give the Celtics a safe three-point lead as Governor Simcoe stormed back to hit a bucket at the buzzer. “We were all not up to par physically,” said Palango. “And Governor Simcoe was a quick team.” Di Tripani noted that “it wouldn’t have been a shame if we had lost to them. But it would have been a bit letdown. They had a lot of Ontario team candidates on their team.” Palango noted that “we were used to playing as a team and if one of the top line is out, it seems difference. We have to try to adapt. We’re not used to playing that way.” Winnie Quinn said the team had a psychological edge. “You get an attitude and don’t think about losing. We have a strong team, even benchwise. Some teams think they’re going to lose so they do. We think we’re going to win, so we do. If the opposition knows they’re going to lose, they can play any way they want. But we lose, we lose everything.” Quinn was the tallest player on the team at 5-10. “If I had any big kids, I wouldn’t know how to handle them,” Di Tripani said. “Usually teams would centre their other players around her. I would probably have the big kid play just like a small kid. We try to beat teams on speed and hustle.” Grant told the Windsor Star that “we had to push harder today. We were playing a real good group of ballhandlers. … We don’t have any set plays. We just freelance and try our best.” The Redcoats led 11-10 after one quarter. The Celtics led 32-21 at the half and 44-42 after three quarters. Di Trapini said “I know we didn’t press enough.” The score was knotted at 46 with five minutes to play. The Celtics hit two field goals to take a 50-46 lead and then Grisewood was teed up for disagreeing with a referees call. The Celtics hit the free throws. The Redcoats rallied back to within 56-55. The Celtics stalled until six seconds were left on the clock, were fouled and hit two free throws to ice it. Lynn Polson hit a bomb from midcourt at the buzzer to trim the final margin to one. Di Tripani said of the stall that “I knew they wouldn’t steal it. We’re too good a ball club for that.” Baldauf kept Polson on the bench (with four fouls) for most of the final quarter. Baldauf said “I made a decision and I think it was a rationale one. Polson’s an aggressive player and she had four fouls. I didn’t like the foul calls. If Lynn had stayed in the game, we would have beat them.” As for the technical, Baldauf said “it was a questionable call and she got upset. Games aren’t won or lost on one particular play. I knew it was a bad play, but you can’t change that.” Di Trapani told the Hamilton Spectator that “it felt great to win. But all the tension is gone now and we can take it easy. … The era is over.” Redcoats coach Herwig Baldauf told the St. Catharines Standard that “at the end, their (Ryan’s) poise kept them in the game. They got the baskets when they needed them.”
The co-bronze medalist Belleville Moira Trojans:
The co-bronze medalist Guelph John F. Ross Royals: Alice France: Tracy McLean; Jane France; Lori MacKay; Janice Jockel; coach Marie Denham
The silver medalist St. Catharines Governor Simcoe Redcoats: Karen Grisewood; Lynn Polson; Wendy Quinn; Cheryl Patterson; Sandy Pothier; Jane Pierce; Sue Edwards; coach Herwig Baldauf
The gold medalist Hamilton Bishop Ryan Celtics: Linda Palango; Debbie Knowles; Theresa Grant; Winnie Quinn; Linda Mataseje; Yolanda Lennart; Carolyn Oliver; Sharon Knowles; Sandra Troccoli; Judy Fasching; Vanna Valentini; Lucy Grosman; Eileen Grossman; Eva Byzciew; coach Joe DiTrapani; manager Sean Quinn; manager Sharon Knowles