St. John's College Green Eagles hit a few sour notes Saturday after dancing to sweet music for the majority of the 2010 season.
"It's a heart-breaking way to end the season," head coach Steve Van Leeuwen said after St. John's was nipped 55-54 by London's John Paul II Jaguars in the bronze-medal game at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association's Quad-A girls' basketball championships at Cathedral High School in Hamilton.
The Green Eagles were knocked into the bronze-medal game Saturday afternoon when they lost 41-37 to Ancaster's Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School Titans in a semifinal game. Tonnos, the No. 3 seed, would go on to lose the gold-medal game to top-seeded Hamilton St. Mary Catholic Secondary School Crusaders 58-47.
The Crusaders beat fifth-seeded John Paul II 55-40 in the other semifinal. The second-seeded Green Eagles were the defending Quad-A champions as they went through the 2009 season with a 45-0 record.
St. John's also reached the OFSAA "AAA" championship game in 2008 but took home silver medals as they lost the final to St. Catharines Governor Simcoe Redcoats on the Redcoats' home floor.
Van Leeuwen believed his girls should hold their heads high as they finished the season with a 36-6 record. They won the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association's Quad-A championship and the Brant County crown.
"How many teams can say they're the fourth best team in Ontario?" he asked. "It's quite an accomplishment and some people go their whole career just to get to OFSAA. In the last three years, our girls have been first, second and fourth. That's pretty impressive."
The Eagles, who have had a target on their back all season as defending champions, got off to a slow start against John Paul as the Jaguars led 17-10 at the end of the first quarter and 33-22 at the half. St. John's battled back to lead 41-40 after three quarters and the Green Eagles were up two points when Jaguars' Danielle Carriere made an old-fashioned three-point play with eight seconds remaining in regulation time to give John Paul II a one-point lead.
Kelly Van Leeuwen attempted a 17-foot, game-winning shot for the Eagles with three seconds remaining but the shot failed. Van Leeuwen led the Eagles with 23 points. Caroline Rebry got 10 points, Kayla Santilli added nine and Rachel Cleary and Deidra McDermid each scored five points.
"I give full credit to the other team," coach Van Leeuwen said. "They played very well but anytime you have a shot to win at the end of the game, you can't be unhappy with that."
The Eagles didn't go to OFSAA with the mindset to win a bronze medal. They were searching for gold and settling for silver at the very least.
"It was a difficult game for our girls to play," Van Leeuwen admitted. "They were disappointed after losing the semifinal."
The Eagles' shooting was absolutely terrible against Bishop Tonnos in their semifinal game. The Titans led 11-10 at the end of the first quarter, 23-18 at the half and 27-23 after three quarters.
"We competed, we just didn't shoot the ball very well," said coach Van Leeuwen. "We got ourselves in a hole by not shooting the ball well. They (John Paul II) hit their foul shots (down the stretch). They did what they had to win."
Kelly Van Leeuwen and Cleary scored 10 points each for the Eagles. McDermid and Santilli scored five points apiece. Arielle Mendoza and Rebry added two points apiece. The Eagles faced an uphill climb throughout the game because of their poor shooting but they never quit.
"You show your true character when you face adversity and our girls showed true character out there," Van Leeuwen claimed. "They didn't give up and it's easy to give up when things don't go your way."
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