Facing London's Regina Mundi Catholic College in the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations AAA championships in Stratford, the Trojans were edged 43-42 in a Friday night quarter-final, eliminating them from play.
North Park, the tournament's sixth-ranked team, led 37-31 heading into the final quarter only to have Regina Mundi, the No. 3 seed, outscore them 12-5.
"There were a lot of bad calls by the refs," said NPC coach Andrea Hawkins. "They called a travel and two carries.
"In the end it was unfortunate turnovers that cost us."
Even though North Park misses out on playing in a Saturday semifinal, Hawkins is proud of her team's play.
"It's mixed emotions, really," she said. "Regina Mundi was supposed to kick our butt.
"The kids played great. We played a great game on defence.
"I'm so proud of them. They played phenomenal."
The Trojans opened the quarterfinal game with a first quarter 12-8 lead before Regina Mundi narrowed the gap to 22-19 at the half.
After the half, North Park came out strong, outscoring its opponents 15-12 in the third quarter to jump ahead 37-31.
But then in the fourth quarter, the calls that haunted the Trojans killed them as Regina Mundi outscored NPC 12-5 to win by one point.
Holly Ryerse led North Park's offence with 12 points while Cassie Fletcher scored 10.
The Trojans opened the tournament on Thursday with a 41-28 win against Toronto's Havergal College (No. 16). That moved them into a Friday morning game against Etobicoke Collegiate Institute.
In that game, North Park jumped into a 21-15 first-quarter lead before extending its advantage to 41-29 at the half.
Etobicoke chipped into the lead, outscoring NPC 20-18 in the third quarter and despite being outscored 13-10 in the fourth, the Trojans hung on for the 69-62 win.
Etobicoke was ranked 11th and had lost its opening game to the No. 1 seeded Louis Riel Secondary School.
Fletcher had a huge game on the scoresheet for North Park against Etobicoke, scoring 31 points. Laura Chapple added 16.
"She was phenomenal," Hawkins said of Fletcher. "That was the best game she's ever played."
Despite her team's season coming to end just a couple of games shorter than she'd hoped, Hawkins doesn't feel anything but pride.
The team will lose four players -Jenny Howell, Kaitlyn Lumax, Holly Ryerse and Brinley McLaren -but Hawkins expects big things next season.
"We're going out to win it all next year," she said.
"This year, I was just hoping we'd win CWOSSA and then get the experience (at OFSAA)."
North Park completes a tremendously successful season, finishing as runners-up to St. John's College in Brant County before winning the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association AAA championship in Cambridge last week.
This was the first trip to OFSAA for a senior girls basketball team from NPC since 1997.
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