St. John's College Green Eagles proved once again that they know how to win.
Kelly Van Leeuwen and Kayla Santilli led the Green Eagles to a 63-37 victory over the North Park Collegiate Trojans on Thursday night at Assumption College. The win gave the Green Eagles the Brant County high school senior girls best-of-three basketball championship series 2-0.
St. John's and North Park advance to the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association championship tournaments, Nov. 19-20.
The Green Eagles play in the six-team Quad-A tournament, which will be played at St. John's and Assumption. The Trojans will play in the eight-team AAA tournament at Jacob Hespeler in Cambridge.
Van Leeuwen and Santilli are undefeated throughout their four-year high school careers in Brant County.
Van Leeuwen has played all four of her years with the senior Eagles, while Santilli played one year of junior and three years of senior.
Three other members of the Eagles -Deidra McDermid, Emma Dudley and Caroline Rebry -also have four Brant County championships to their credit. They each have two junior and two senior titles. They did suffer one loss in junior during their time at St. John's.
Van Leeuwen and Santilli dominated the first half against the Trojans. They scored all but three of the Eagles' points as St. John's built a 34-14 lead.
Van Leeuwen got 16 points and Santilli 15. Van Leeuwen went on to finish with 22 points. Santilli didn't score in the second half as the scoring was left to their teammates.
"In the first half when things are a little tough, Kelly and Kayla know that our team looks to them and they know how to lead," said Eagles' head coach Steve Van Leeuwen, Kelly's father.
"They're not scared to take control of the game if they have to. They know how to win."
Santilli acknowledges that Van Leeuwen and her are accustomed to the leadership and pressure roles.
"Kelly and I are used to that," Santilli said. "We've played together all of our lives and taking control together, not just one of us but together.
"It's our third year in BCSSAA together and it's sad that it's going to be our last year playing basketball together."
Van Leeuwen and Santilli were among the Eagle stars last season when St. John's went undefeated and captured the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association's Quad-A championship.
The Eagles have lost three games in tournaments this year. They'll be going into CWOSSA without star power forward Katie Polischuk, who is sidelined with an ankle injury.
"I think there's more pressure this year because we're the older ones on the team," Santilli said. "Last year, the older girls really helped us. It's also hard playing without Katie but it just means the others have to step up."
Coach Van Leeuwen believes Waterloo Collegiate and Centre Wellington from Fergus will be the main competition at CWOSSA.
"WCI is a top-10 team in the province without a doubt and Centre-Wellington had two provincial players," Van Leeuwen said.
Andrea (Gump) Hawkins, head coach of the Trojans was pleased with her team's effort against the St. John's powerhouse.
"We've grown a lot as a team," Hawkins said. "We're handling the pressure so much better now than in September."
Hawkins praised the Eagles for their play.
"St. John's moves the ball so well," Hawkins said. "They're a great team. They make you pay when you make a mistake."
Laura Chapple scored 11 points for the Trojans. Reo Roland and Allyson DeLorenzi each got six points.
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