Wow!
Everyone knows the St. John's College Green Eagles have three star players but after Saturday night the critics are asking, "How good are their role players?"
The answer: Very good.
Waterloo Collegiate Institute Vikings will be considered a fairly strong entry when they compete this week at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association's Quad-A senior girls' basketball championships in Hamilton.
However, the Vikings were no match for the Green Eagles at St. John's on Saturday night even though the Green and White Machine was missing Katie Polischuk (sidelined with an injury) and star point guard Kelly Van Leeuwen was forced to the bench midway through the first quarter with foul trouble.
Kayla Santilli, the third star of the St. John's trifecta, simply took control of the game until Van Leeuwen and rebounding star Rachel Cleary (second quarter foul trouble) could return.
Santilli, assisted by an array of role players, led the Eagles to a 67-40 victory in the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association's Quad-A championship game.
The Eagles will take their 33-4 record to Hamilton where they will attempt to defend their OFSAA championship.
They went 45-0 last season in winning the provincial title.
It's expected that Hamilton St. Mary's Crusaders, who have defeated the Eagles twice this season, will be the No. 1 seed at OFSAA, which begins Thursday and runs through Saturday.
"I'm looking for a good seed," said Eagles' head coach Steve Van Leeuwen. "I think we'll be No. 2. I'm hoping for No. 2."
The Eagles looked as though they might have dug themselves into a hole when Kelly Van Leeuwen, who is headed to the Niagara University Purple Eagles on an athletic scholarship, got charged with two fouls in the first four minutes and was relegated to the bench until the start of the third quarter.
St. John's, with Polischuk also on the sidelines, looked to Santilli and their role players -Cleary, Arielle Mendoza, Deidra McDermott, Caroline Rebry and Shawni Hnatiuk to mention a few.
They turned a 7-5 lead lead into a 17-11 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The Vikings, who qualify for OFSAA because CWOSSA gets two entries, narrowed the margin to 19-15 in the second quarter but then the Eagles' defence took over and St. John's led 33-21 at the half. Game, set, match!
Santilli finished with 17 points, Mendoza 15, Cleary eight, Hnatiuk seven, Rebry six, Van Leeuwen five and McDermott three.
"We did it with our defence, with the defensive pressure," said coach Van Leeuwen. "Our offence was a little stagnant so we created our offence with our defence."
Van Leeuwen praised his players for their effort when his daughter, Kelly, was on the bench in the first half.
"For her (Kelly) not to score in the first half and for us to be up by 12 is quite an accomplishment," he said. "I think Kayla stepped up when Kelly was off the court. I think she did a great job when Kelly was off the court."
Santilli took her performance all in stride.
"It's hard when one of our best players gets in foul trouble in the first quarter but I have confidence in my teammates," Santilli said. "They had to step it up and they did.
"I'm a veteran. I'm expected to lead the team and be a role model. That was my job, that's always my job. We're expected to take control of the team."
Santilli pointed to defence as the key to the victory.
"They say defence wins games," she noted. "You don't realize how true it is until it happens. Our intensity on defence reflected on our offence."
Santilli believes the Eagles will be ready to defend their championship when the tournament starts Th ursday.
"We need a hard week of practise," she said. "It'll set the tone for the weekend."
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