The AAA draw was reduced to eight teams after the majority of OFSAA regional associations opted not to participate because of the ongoing covid-19 pandemic.
In the opening, seeding round, held in St. Catharines: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Mississauga St. Francis Xavier Tigers (ROPSSAA) clipped the 6th-seeded Sudbury LaSalle Black Knights (NOSSA) 54-37 as Meilyn dela Paz scored 13. Jasmine Savignac led the Black Knights with 11. The Black Knights led 15-11 after one quarter. The Tigers led 28-20 at the half. The score was knotted at 36 after three quarters. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded host St. Catharines Sir Winston Churchill Secondary Bulldogs (SOSSA) clubbed the 8th-seeded Lindsay I.E. Weldon Secondary Wildcats (COSSA) 57-29 after leading 15-6, 32-10 and 48-22 at the quarters. Brookelyn Keltos led the Bulldogs with 16. Sarah Ben Omrane added 8, Kate Smyth 7, Megan Barker 4, Reese Bolibruck 4 and Sam Cormier 2. Christina Lawrence-Kish paced the Wildcats with 8. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Hamilton Westdale Warriors (SOSSA) dispatched the 4th-seeded Kingston Holy Cross Catholic Crusaders (EOSSA) 52-42 after leading 11-4, 35-13 and 44-24 at the quarters. Emilia Dias-Ruiz paced the Warriors with 16. Abbey Besselink led the Crusaders with 13. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Hamilton Cathedral Gaels (GHAC) crushed the 5th-seeded Brantford CI & VS Mustangs (CWOSSA) 87-42 after leading 33-10, 53-23 and 75-38 at the quarters. Nicole Daly paced the Gales with 26. Olivia Saylon led the Mustangs with 18.
In the quarterfinals, the 3rd-seeded St. Catharines Sir Winston Churchill Secondary Bulldogs defeated the 6th-seeded Sudbury LaSalle Black Knights 50-40 after leading 11-4, 27-22 and 39-33 at the quarters. Megan Barker led the Bulldogs with 19. Brookelyn Keltos added 13, Reese Bolibruck 7, Kate Smyth 6, Yemi Oladipo 3 and Sam Cormier 2.
Churchill coach Frank Keltos told bpsportsniagara.com that “We were a little nervous, our shots didn’t drop, we got a little bit panicked, they pressured us and then they hit a ton of shots. We were overplaying and doing young things. It is that youth in us wanting to steal the ball every second and sometimes you just have to let the game come to you. … We got contributions from everybody and we had some solid play from our guards, Brooke, Yemi and Reese Bolibruck came in and hit a couple of nice threes to help us relax.” Keltos added that his daughter Brooke stepped in at the point and did an admirable job after starter Kate Smyth got in foul trouble. “Today she was a leader out there. She had to take the role of point guard and there was a lot of pressure and she did a great job. I’m proud of her as a dad to take that on not just as a coach. She might not have showed up on the scoreboard as much but the points were doubled by the amount of control she had on the game.” Brookelyn said “it is a lot and it was hard to take on the role of dribbling the ball when I am that tired but when our team makes a good play and we kick it out and hit that three, it is so great to cheer on that teammate and it gets me going. I don’t feel how tired I am or how long I have been playing.” Frank Keltos also noted that Barker “got a lot of rebounds and I love what she does but sometimes you just want her to pick her battles but that is the learning process.” Madison Norman paced the Black Knights with 18. Lainey Allen added 10, Charlotte Eberlien 7, Taylor Prudhomme 3, Hunter Brear 1 and Jasmine Sovignoc 1. The Black Knights (coached by John Dawson and Karen Passi) also included Peyton Brear, Emma Dawson, Sydney Gauthier, Theresa Gauthier, Vanessa Gauthier and Kaitlyn Lloyd.
The 2nd-seeded Hamilton Cathedral Gaels dusted the 4th-seeded Kingston Holy Cross Catholic Crusaders 73-47 after leading 21-9, 44-19 and 62-30 at the quarters. Keira Daly paced the Gaels with 15. Jessica Ascuncion led the Crusaders with 12. The Crusaders (coach Kelly Dixon, assistant Jamie Knights, assistant Mackenzie Melin, assistant Stephanie Thompson) also included Abbey Besselink, Ella Best-Taylor, Charlotte Cantarutti, Emma Dixon, Cassandra Dixon, Emily Dison, Hayden Gaudet, Erin Murphy, Makalya Penny, Shelby Robertson, Abigayle Sinclair, Parez Tahamtan and Chelsey Thompson.
The top-seeded Mississauga St. Francis Xavier Tigers edged the 8th-seeded Lindsay I.E. Weldon Secondary Wildcats 50-49 after leading 25-20 at the half and 36-32 after three quarters. The Wildcats (coach Carla Vivian, assistant Leslie Creeden) included Chloe Acoba, Abbigail Dillon, Coral Dobson, Noella Echano, Sophia Free, Sophie Gregory, Chloe Holtz, Alyssa James, Kira Janssen, Abigail Junkin, Olivia Kylau, Ellaina Kylau, Christina Lawrence-Kish and Courtney Wilson.
In the last quarterfinal, the 5th-seeded Brantford CI & VS Mustangs defeated the 7th-seeded Hamilton Westdale Warriors 54-45 after leading 26-15 at the half and 36-30 after three quarters. The Warriors (coach Kayla Wilson, assistant Frank Marof) included Isra Bashir, Julia Boden, Nina Boden, Dorothy Brown, Charlotte Chiniborch, Lilly Curran, Elise Davidson, Emilia Diaz-Ruiz, Natasha Lawford, Maya Lee, Morgan Marof, Ailish Paterson, Alyah Pereira and Ellen Scott.
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Hamilton Cathedral Gaels handed the 3rd-seeded St. Catharines Sir Winston Churchill Secondary Bulldogs their first loss of the season by a 76-41 count after leading 32-14, 47-25 and 62-33 at the quarters. Nicole Daly paced the Gaels with 22, Keira Daly 18 and Maya Flynn 11 Megan Barker and Brookelyn Keltos each notched 10 to lead the Bulldogs. Yemi Oladipo added 7, Sam Cormier 7, Paige Cook 4 and Reese Bolibruck 3. Bulldogs coach Frank Keltos told bpsportsniagara.com that “they came our firing and hit their first five shots and we turned it over and got ourselves in a 20-point deficit at half. We had a run in the third but then we made a few more turnovers which ended our run.” Keltos told the St. Catharines Standard “hats off to them for kind of shutting us down. We played scared at the start.”
In the other semi, the 5th-seeded Brantford CI & VS Mustangs defeated the top-seeded Mississauga St. Francis Xavier Tigers 34-28. The score was knotted at six after one quarter. The Tigers led 15-8 at the half and 28-20 after three quarters. Mustangs coach Ross Enslev told the Brantford Expositor that “not only were we down, we couldn’t put the ball in the ocean. And, then, we outscored them 14-0 in the fourth quarter. When have you ever heard of that before? The No. 1 seed in a tournament being shutout by a little David.”
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded St. Catharines Sir Winston Churchill Secondary Bulldogs crushed the top-seeded Mississauga St. Francis Xavier Tigers 65-26 after leading 16-6, 36-13 and 50-20 at the quarters. Megan Barker led the Bulldogs with 21. Brookelyn Keltos added 15, Yemi Oladipo 13, Reese Bolibruck 6, Sam Cormier 4, Kate Smyth 4 and Sarah Ben Omrane 2. Yemi Oladipo told bpsports.niagara.com that “it means so much and it has been one of my goals since I started playing basketball. It feels so good to be with this hard-working team to officially meet one of the goals we all had. … I do love defence way more than offence and one thing I always tell myself is that if my shots aren’t falling just makes sure you play tough on defence.” Coach Frank Keltos said Oladipo said Oladipo was a tenacious defensive stopped. She looks like she is a bully on the court but she is the sweetest kid in the world. She is strong and she is a kid who plays hard and just loves to play.” Keltos added that “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen but they played well, passed the ball and shot the ball well. They came out and they wanted it.” Barker told the St. Catharines Standard that she was determined to play despite suffering a tailbone injury in the semis. “I landed pretty hard on my back and I didn’t think I could play this game, but luckily with the adrenaline I was able to push through it. …I couldn’t miss my last game, especially with this team. We have a Grade 9 on our team and a Grade 10 and I love playing with the team,” she said. “I’ve played with two of our players – Brooke Keltos and Yemi Oladipo – since I was in Grade 2, and Frank Keltos was my coach since Grade 2. I’ve played with him forever. … This is still an amazing season for us, even though we did lose to Cathedral. I guarantee Cathedral is going to be the No. 1 team and in our heads, we came second because we got the closest to them.” Mikailyn dela Paz paced the Tigers with 8. Meilyn dela Paz added 4. The Tigers (coach Kenneth Dvorsky, assistant Alexander Strvac, assistant Nicole Arsenov) also included Jessica Baah, Taliyah Copeland-Beckford, Evana Eyubeh, Cassandra Girgis, Lianna Hong, Samantha Medoza-Peers, Denessa Moodle, Llorena Prekaj, Mikayla Rutty, Gurkiran Singh, Sara Sritharan and Julianna Sumner.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Hamilton Cathedral Gaels clubbed the 5th-seeded Brantford CI & VS Mustangs 80-23 after leading 32-2, 50-6 and 63-18 at the quarters. Nicole Daly paced the Gaels with 17. Tate Adams led the Mustangs with 7. Mustangs coach Ross Enslev told the Brantford Expositor that “for them to do what they did it was a perfect storm. … We couldn’t be more proud nor could we be more surprised at what they were able to do,” he said.
“Woody (Pat Woodburn), Ronny (Ron Jamula) and I, we’ve coached for a 125 years (combined) and we were laughing about it. There’s nothing comparable to how this played out. It’s absolutely wild. It would make for a good movie.”
The bronze medalist St. Catharines Sir Winston Churchill Secondary Bulldogs: Megan Barker; Sarah Ben Omrane; Reese Bolibruck; Paige Cook; Samantha Cormier; Lauryn Cosby; Gabriella DiGirolamo; Brookelyn Keltos; Amy Little; Olayemi Oladipo; Erin Short; Kate Smyth; coach Frank Keltos; assistant Adam Onclin; assistant Maya Torigian; assistant Ella Turner
The silver medalist Brantford Collegiate Institute & VS Mustangs: Tate Adams; Theda-Joan Anthony; Hannah Clark; Kala Grant; Tatum Gravett; Kendall Hotte; Kaitlyn Kellam; Keeleigh MacNeil; Alexandria McGroarty-Lemire; Gabby Petersen; Olivia Saylon; coach Ross Enslev; assistant Jennifer Grierson-Young; assistant Lindsay Ham; assistant Ron Jamula; assistant Pat Woodburn
The gold medalist Hamilton Cathedral Gaels: Attoyla Barichello-Herrera; Nubeah Clarke; Keira Daly; Nicole Daly; Rachel Daly; Maya Flynn; Elena Hilson; Kaleez Joseph; Kaylor Rosos; Kylie Rosos; Elizabeth Spanic; Amy Varrasso; coach Kevin Daly; assistant Jim Daly; assistant Sandra Daly; assistant Luca Fortino