In the opening round, held in Hamilton: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded the Hamilton St. Mary’s Crusaders defeated the Toronto Jarvis Bulldogs 70-29 as Krysten Adams scored 13. Angie Knoebelreiter led the Bulldogs with 17. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded London Pope John Paul II Jaguars dumped the Barrie Innisdale Invaders 66-31 as Karenina Aguilar scored 17. Julia Stokes led the Invaders with 12. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders defeated the Etobicoke CI Rams 53-33 as Jennifer Nadalin scored 24. Ruth Lancashire led the Rams with 10. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Ottawa Glebe Gryphons defeated the Brampton St Augustine Falcons 55-38 as Julia Gaffield scored 16. “Our quickness and defensive pressure were the difference,” Gryphons coach Murray Shoup told the Ottawa Citizen. “It was a little scrappy, sort of a streetball type of game. But we played really good defence.” Glebe led 31-12 at the half. Sara Hrehoriak, Allison Stone and Anna Singer each added 8. Salee-Marie Johnson led St. Augustine with 14. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded North Toronto Norsemen defeated 9th-seeded Richmond Hill 60-48 as Elspeth Cheung scored 22. Alison Ishmael led Richmond Hill with 15. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Waterloo CI Vikings pounded the Etobicoke Michael Power-St. Joseph Trojans 54-36 as Julie Devenny scored 17 (also reported as 20), Lindsay Jennings 10 and Lindsay Kurt 6. Vikings coach Doug Rantpon told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “it was good start for us and I especially like the way we played defnece, especially in the first half. Lindsay (Kurt) really sparked our defensive efforts and did great work rebounding.” Meaghan Mcgrath led the Trojans with 27. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Sarnia St. Christopher Cyclones defeated the Whitby Father Leo Austin Wildcats 67-23 as Beth Dragan scored 11. Kerri Dingman led the Wildcats with 8. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Hamilton Westdale Warriors defeated the Scarborough Arthur Campbell Celtics 60-35 as 6-2 forward Rebecca McColl scored 32, including 15 in the second quarter. “We definitely had some jitters at the start,” McColl told the Toronto Star. “Because it’s my final year it’s that much more important. This is what you strive for and it’s even more exciting because this in is Hamilton. It’s everyone’s dream to get the gold.” Westdale features Shona Thorburn, a member of the junior national team, in the backcourt and can call on a deep bench. But it could be McColl’s ability to dominate close to the basket that tips the balance. “Rebecca is just such a great player and an even better leader,” said coach Amos Connolly. “We had to get through the first game of an OFSAA tournament. It’s nerve-wracking and you have to deal with some adversity. She did that.” Christie Vuong led the Celtics with 12. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders dumped the Sudbury Lasalle Lancers 53-35 as Katie Donovan scored 14. Shauna Brouillard led the Lancers with 10.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The Barrie Innisdale Invaders dumped the Etobicoke CI Rams 52-28 as Julia Stokes scored 14. Ruth Lancashire led the Rams with 10. The Rams (coached by Paul Pearson and Bruce Lee) also included Sarah Symmes, Sara Wood, Olga Koubrak, Melissa Juarez, Sandy Tahirovic, Sarah Penman, Emily Warr, Risa MacDonald, Sabrina Pagowski, Darcie Jaremey, Courtney Fuller and Emily DeFeo. …………………………………………………… The Scarborough Arthur Campbell Celtics nipped the Whitby Father Leo Austin Wildcats 62-61 as Christine Vuong scored 25. Pam Wilkinson led the Wildcats with 11. The Wildcats (coached by Heather Lafontaine) also included Jodi Wilson, Jennifer Sawaula, Kelly Lafontaine, Jessica Loziuk, Meghan Carroll, Jennifer Lagani, Kerri Dingman, Andrea Mitchell and Lori Balan.
In the third round: …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Ottawa Glebe Gryphons defeated the 9th-seeded Richmond Hill 47-28 as Julia Gaffield scored 17 and Sara Hrehoriak 12. The Gryphons full-court pressure and quickness proved the difference, Glebe coach Murray Shoup told the Ottawa Citizen. Glebe took a 17-11 lead at the quarter, stretched their margin to 18 at the half and won going away. Robyn Fluxgold led Richmond Hill with 8. Richmond Hill (coached by Jon Gage, assisted by Bryden Gage) also included Neda Vujucic, Natalie Lam, Leah Draper, Rachel Muttiah, Michelle Hoag, Sandra Marenelli, Janice Lewis, Allison Ishmael, Dianne Tennen and Shauna Tsuchiya. …………………………………………………… The Sudbury Lasalle Lancers stunned the Hamilton Westdale Warriors 40-31 as Shauna Brouillard scored 14. Warrior post Rebecca McColl was foul trouble after two minutes. The score was knotted at 23 after three quarters. Lancer Erica Johnson told the Hamilton Spectator that “sure, it’s an upset. We weren’t even ranked at the tournament. But we’re a pretty experience team with close games and we got some momentum. And having the crowd against us really pumped up our team.” Shona Thorburn led the Warriors with 16. Thorburn said the team was anticipating the quarterfinals. “You’re human, you have to think ahead. We were think about St. Christopher’s, it was in our minds. We just didn’t get it done in this game. You don’t get another chance at OFSAA. … We fought. We just didn’t have it in us. They hit at the end when they needed and made their foul shots. The Warriors (coached by Jackie White and Amos Connolly) also included Lindsay Snell, Whitney Bodden, Jasmine Roper, Justine Panavas, Cat Panabaker, Kendra Blimkie, Paige Olmstead, Shaunna Eisenberg, Leslie Thomson, Erinn Belot, Brownwyn Whyte, Rebecca McColl and Ali Belot. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Hamilton St. Mary’s Crusaders pummeled the Barrie Innisdale Invaders 79-37. The Invaders (coached by Brett Marshall, assisted by Dawn Stephens) included Sarah Craig, Michelle Hannah, Kim Reid, Katelin Goheen, Katherine Fairbarn, Lindsay Smith, Marcy Keens, Julia Stokes, Heather Stokes, Kristin McBride and Amanda Haynes. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Sarnia St. Christopher Cyclones whipped the Etobicoke Michael Power-St. Joseph Trojans 64-30. The Trojans (coached by Paul McGrath, assisted by Tony Stancati) included Natoya Whittingham, Julia Simonelis, Andrea Steacy, Eileen Kersnik, Meaghan McGrath, Emily Kuhlmann, Ay D’Ornellas, Megan Cashley, Jaclyn Cashley, Viktoria Benotas and Silvija Filipovic. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded London Pope John Paul II Jaguars whipped the Toronto Jarvis Bulldogs 61-35. The Bulldogs (coached by Bob Clarke) included Allix Thompson, Mariko Nguyen, Joanne Him, Tiffany Hsiung, Shannon Jonas, Kiyomi McCloskey, Angie Knoelbel Reiter, Latanay Davis, Leah Kainer, Denise Griffiths, Alice Tseng and Hannah Pokala. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders clubbed the Brampton St. Augustine Falcons 55-33. The Falcons (coached by Derek Ramalho, assisted by Niall Brennan) included Karla Reyes, Ana Vukelic, Charlene Spence, Aleisha Colqunuon, Helen Vukelic, Salee-Marie Johnson, Lillian Adjetey, Kelly Rego, Symone Wilson and Marija Troglic. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Waterloo CI Vikings dumped the North Toronto Norsemen 49-29 as Julie Devenny scored 22, Ashley MacSporran 11 and Lindsay Jenning 10. The Vikings led 41-18 at the half. Vikings coach Doug Ranton told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “we took control early and played very well.” The Norsemen (coached by Eric Tiessen, Linda Batt, Murray Batt and Irene Bell) included Mallary Davenport, Elspeth Cheng, Brianna Fitzpatrick, Martha Paterson, Ashley MacDonald, Sarah Whitmore, Shaina Partridge, Fiona Cheng, Ali Campbell, Wanda Wall-Bergen, Olga Radchenko and Olivia Batt. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders crushed the Scarborough Albert Campbell Celtics 71-30. The Celtics (coached by Bryan Pardo) included Kian Johnson, Colleen Johnson, Christine Vuong, Stephanie Chau, Lindsay Craig, Tanya James, Charissa Thomas, Chivonne Goulbourne and Jenelle Pryce.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Hamilton St. Mary’s Crusaders defeated the 8th-seeded Ottawa Glebe Gryphons 48-29, the second year in a row the two teams had met in the quarters. Somewhat surprisingly, Glebe was again seeded eighth this year despite the fact the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association placed two teams in last year’s quarterfinals, indicating that the loop is one of the strongest of the 16 associations in the province. But the Gryphons were seeded lower than teams like Waterloo Collegiate, which lost earlier this year to NCSSAA semifinalist St. Matthew’s. The Crusaders led 11-0 late in the opening quarter, but the advantage vanished until Mandy Bateman made a pair of buckets just before the intermission. A surge at the beginning of the second half allowed St. Mary’s to use its lengthy bench. “We are a strong second-half team but this year we don’t want to wait,” Bateman, who scored 13, told the Toronto Star. “We don’t want it to go down to the end like last year.” Mandy Bateman paced the Crusaders with 13. Julia Gaffield paced the Gryphons with 9. Lindsay McShane added 8. The Gryphons (coached by Murray Shoup) also included Anna Singer, Alison MacDonald, Allison Stone, Noura Haggar, Sara Hrehoriak, Alison Barclay, Eliza Seaborn, Xan Woods, Kadie Riverin, Doris Chow, Meghan Kane and Sonya Jancar.
The 2nd-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders defeated the 7th-seeded Waterloo CI Vikings 71-49. The Vikings (coached by Doug Renton, assisted by Lynda Calinghan) included Lindsay Kurt, Terri Alderfer, Ashley MacSporran, Katherine Banks, Ashleigh Jesson, Gillian Herman, Lindsay Jennings, Julie Devenny, Laura Taylor, Lisa Devenny, Sarah Sanderson and Laura Strauss.
The 3rd-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders defeated the 6th-seeded London Pope John Paul II Jaguars 42-35. The Jaguars (coached by Bill Pargeter, assisted by Jason Shoemaker) included Jocelyn Wocks, Kathryn Murray, Sarah Knowles, Steph Van de Ven, Katie Tucker, Kelly Moran, Kristy Commerford, Carolina Llobet-Arany, Jess Griffiths, Katherine Gonzalez, Karenina Aguilar, Tina Cinicolo and Johanna McManus
In the last quarterfinal, the 4th-seeded Sarnia St. Christopher Cyclones defeated the unseeded Sudbury LaSalle Lancers 52-38. The Lancers (coached by Peter Bouillon, assisted by Jason Jakola) included Shannon Labre, Amy Chau, Jen Skelly, Katie Golanski, Erica Johnson, Shauna Brouillard, Jessica Taylor, Ellen Moffatt, Laura Teddy, Meghan Cayen, Vanessa Jakola and Megan Chute.
In the semi-finals, the top-seeded Hamilton St. Mary’s Crusaders pounded the 4th-seeded Sarnia St. Christopher Cyclones 43-34.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders defeated the 3rd-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders 40-31.
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded Sarnia St. Christopher’s Cyclones clipped the 3rd-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders 47-39 as Lindsey DeGroot scored 14. The Cyclones outscored the Crusaders 15-7 in the final quarter. The Crusaders (coached by Peter Pouillon, assisted by Jason Jakola and Debbie Kewin) included Stephanie Kewin, Nathalie MacNeil, Danielle Kewin, Stephanie Thyssen, Melissa Horne, Jennifer Naddin, Catherine Cachia, Natalie Palubiski, Amanda Beadle and Meaghan Green.
In the final, the Hamilton St. Mary’s Crusaders defeated the Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders 34-32. The win avenged a one-point loss to Aquinas a week earlier in the GHAC final. St. Mary’s finished (37-1) on the season. Neither team held more than a four-point lead. Kim Salem had scored for Aquinas with about three minutes to play to put them ahead by two. But a minute later, Cari te Boekhorst, a grade 10 player, hit a spinning jumper from the foul line to tie the game. St. Mary’s defence then forced an over and back call against Aquinas. Regaining possession with 40 seconds to play, they ran the clock down to 10 and then Ashleigh Cuncic drove the paint. She was fouled by Katie Donovan with four seconds on the clock, and hit two clutch free throws to garner the win. Donovan, a transfer from Kingston Frontenac, led Aquinas with 18. Aquinas also featured grade nine phenom Kara Lang. “I give St. Thomas Aquinas a ton of credit,” said St. Mary’s coach Rich Wesolowski. “They fought us for every second. Katie Donovan played very well as was tough to stop around the hoop. …I could not have asked for players that have more heart or dedication to the game and their teammates. These kids would come into practice at the start of the year and ask when we could do conditioning outside practice time. That’s the kind of commitment champions are made of. …Everyone has been telling this team for the past three years that they are the team to beat. This includes the media, friends, family and myself. This just increases the pressure but they have responded incredibly and compiled a 114-3 record in that time span. In the past two OFSAAs, there were times in the final few minutes in both of the finals that I wondered if we could pull this off. We were down but someone stepped up and hit a big shot. We seemed to just come through in clutch moments.” Donovan had created a controversy early in the season when she transferred from Kingston LaSalle because of a teacher’s work-to-rule stricture against coaching teams. With no basketball being offered in Kingston, she opted to move to Oakville. The move was originally blocked by the Halton Region Athletic Association and an appeal to the OFSAA Board of Reference was rejected. The Donovans then responded with a civil action suit against the federation that also included a statement of claim for $5 million in damages. Kingston lawyer Gary Tranmer then sought and was granted an injunction that allowed Donovan to play for the Oakville Catholic school. Mother Pat Donovan said there definitely was a feeling of relief to see the high school season come to a completion. “There were a lot of obstacles,” she said. “There was resistance all the way. [The St. Mary’s coach] called her `the rent-a-player.’ It didn’t faze Katie, though.” Ashleigh Cuncic connected on a pair for free throws with four seconds remaining to give the Crusaders the win. Cuncic, who finished with 9 points including 3-4 from the line, told the Toronto Star “I know the game could have gone either way but when I got those free throws, I kept thinking wouldn’t this be a great way to graduate.” Donovan, with a game-high 18 points and 11 in the first half, had a different viewpoint on the foul she received in the final seconds from referee Tony Turnbull. “She drove to the basket and I thought it was fine, we got the rebound and then there was a late whistle and they called me for the foul and I was shocked.” St. Mary’s coach Rich Wesolowski said “it’s a gutsy call but we’ll take it. Usually in a close game you let the players decide it but both girls wanted the ball in a clutch time.” Aquinas was forced into a defensive game when starting guards Alana Juzenas and Kara Lang each had four fouls. “It’s a tough call for an official to make but I saw her reach and those are the breaks,” said St. Thomas Aquinas coach Mike Johnston. “They stopped our running game and we had our share of fouls.” Julie Lamparski, one of 10 St. Mary’s players to score, added 6 for the Crusaders. Katie Donovan scored 18 for the Raiders.
The bronze medalist Sarnia St. Christopher Cyclones: Lindsay DeGroot; Danielle Sabourin; Beth Dragan; Julie Burr; Sarah Donohue; Jody Colbrook; Linnea Hagan; Chiara Rocca; Mary Kathryn LaFave; Jessica Chamberlain; Erin Chamberlain; coach Ed Dragan; assistant Kathie Bristo
The silver medalist Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders: Katie Donovan; Kara Lang; Alana Juzenas; Kim Salem; Lauren Hanley, Kelly MacKenzie; Karen Zmirak, Katie Ballard; Natalie Leggat; Clare O’Connor; Lisa Winnik; Cailin Miziolek; Shavonne Hafal-MacIntosh; coach Mike Johnston; assistant Mike Giammichele
The gold medalist Hamilton St. Mary’s Crusaders: Cari TeBoekhorst; Jessie Lamparski; Mandy Bateman; Julie Lamparski; Rachel Hart; Ashleigh Cuncic; Sarah Papalia; Heather Angus; Lora TeBoekhorst; Krysten Adams; Vanessa Casuccio; Julia Critchley; Jessica Selinger; Stephanie Williams; Lauren Angus; Andrea Benvenuto; coach George Lamparski