Waterloo Chronicle: Raiders Snatch a Thrilling Victory from Vikings

Shouts out to Bob Vrbanac of the Waterloo Chronicle who had a great article in last week's edition of that paper documenting the WCSSAA final between WCI & KCI. Yes, it's technically "old news" now as the girls season is now officially over, but it's still worth a read.

Article retrieved from: http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/news/article/195425

By: Bob Vrbanac, Chronicle Staff

With 45 seconds left to go, and the last two unbeaten teams — WCI and KCI — battling it out for the WCSSAA senior girls basketball championship the ball fell into the hands of the unlikeliest of heroes for the Raiders, Claire Lockhart.
“I’m not a particularly offensive player and I never have been, I recognize that,” said the Grade 12 student in her victory lap with the team. “I do the hard work on defence and try to go after the rebounds and loose balls.

“I just try to work as hard as I can and leave it all out on the court. That’s pretty much all I try to do.”

So what happened next even shocked her a little bit. She pulled in a long rebound with the game on the line, and with an open look at the basket heaved up a shot at the Vikings basket.

To say it was an ugly looking shot would be an understatement. The ball hit back rim, and bounced twice, before miraculously rolling into the basket for the 69-67 win.

It was the quietest that a raucous, overflow crowd gathered at Preston high school in Cambridge to watch the final, was on the evening before exploding as the winning basket swished through.

“I just chucked it up there, apparently that’s what I do,” said a bemused Lockhart. “I saw the hoop and threw it up — it was lucky it went in that time.”

Lockhart said her heart skipped a beat as the ball continued to bounce. She joked she just wanted add a little drama to what was already a dramatic final.

“It took a while to go in, and the crowd went crazy,” said Lockhart laughing. “I do it for the fans.”

If that was the case, both teams were playing for the fans in one of the most entertaining basketball finals in the past decade. The script for the championship final didn’t start that way with the Viking touted as the heavy favourites to win their fifth consecutive title.

The Vikings also beat the Raiders in the last three WCSSAA finals, so the Raiders considered themselves the underdogs going into the contest.

But they didn’t play like underdogs, building a 23-19 lead after the first quarter, and growing it to 42-33 at the half.

The Vikings responded like you’d expect the defending champs would in the third quarter, cutting the lead down to one, 57-56. WCI’s leading scorer Shelby Kurt, who struggled in the first half, found her range again and hit for 11 of her game high 27 points to get her team back in the game.

With less that a minute to go it looked like WCI was going to back to the familiar script. The Vikings were up by three and poised to close out another championship win.

That’s when the Raiders’ Rachel Urosevic got her shot at redemption after losing to the Vikings in the last three championship finals. The Raiders point guard and leading scorer with 17 points, threw up an airball on the possession before but that didn’t stop her from creating a turnover and hoisting up the game-tying three pointer.

“You can’t let it get you down,” said Urosevic, about the perseverance she showed against the Vikings.

“Your team needs you, especially in these “Your team needs you, especially in these moments, and you want to be the player to take that shot because who else will?”

The win cemented a family legacy for the Urosevic clan. She’s just the latest family member to win a WCSSAA basketball championship with her uncle, aunt and dad, Bob, all accomplishing that honour.

The KCI fans couldn’t hide their joy for their floor general after the game, rushing the court. The Grade 12 student was gracious in victory and hoped they weren’t showing up the Vikings. But it was party time for the Raiders given their long history of futility.

“I feel a little bad because you feel like you’re rubbing it in somebody’s face when you’re screaming like that, but this is a long time coming,” said Urosevic.

“I didn’t know what it’s like to hold this championship plaque. Now I do, and it feels amazing.”

KCI went on to win the CWOSSA Triple A title in Brantford by beating North Park 66-59. They now travel to the all-Ontario championships on the weekend.

The Vikings made it to the finals of the CWOSSA Quad A Championships against St. John’s before losing 75-47. Both teams qualify for OFSAA championships in Hamilton this week.