The Holy Trinity Titans sure know how to ruin a party.
Between Wednesday's sweep of the NSSAA boys volleyball titles and a junior girls basketball championship already in their back pocket on Thursday, a boisterous crowd at SCS was ready to watch their senior girls complete their undefeated season and bring home the school's fourth title in two days.
One problem: the Holy Trinity Titans.
The Titans swept in with their relentless defence, timely shooting and a group of five tireless players that never left the court, and captured the 2010 county title for themselves with a 28-25 victory.
Late in the opening quarter, down 11-5, the Titans closed the gap scoring a basket and two free throws. Their late surge carried into the second, when Holy Trinity netted four straight buckets and one from the line to take a commanding 18-11 advantage.
When their rally was finished, the Titans were up 20-13 at the break, thanks in large part to Annessa Casier's eight points in the quarter alone.
"I think we just got rid of some of the nerves," said Holy Trinity's Sam Mitchell. "I think some of the girls were really nervous before the game started, so we just kind of got into our element a bit."
The defending champs came out determined to give the sizable and rowdy crowd more to cheer about in the third, but managed just four points. Luckily for the blue and white, Holy Trinity scored just two, and they still had a shot to get back even. In the fourth, Simcoe did all they could, and got plenty of good shots away only to see the ball bounce off the iron and out.
"You can't blame it all on luck, but it just didn't go down for us and it's one of those games. We're not ashamed of what we did, we played a good game, Trinity played a good game, but it's definitely a hard loss to take," said Simcoe point guard Stephanie Potts.
"It's disappointing of course, but you know what, this is a good season and it's nothing to be ashamed of and we're holding our heads high."
Casier finished with a game-high 17 points and, just as importantly, helped keep the Sabres from driving the lane at the other end of the court, forcing Simcoe to take more shots from the outside.
"It was tough," Mitchell said of holding the lead. "We had so much adrenaline pumping that we just wanted to be up in their face the whole time. But you've got to kind of sink back into the paint and do what we did the whole game and stay calm."
With a minute left, the Holy Trinity fans began to sing the familiar sporting tune "Na na na na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye." Sharpshooter Jordan Vanderhaegen nailed a short jumper with seconds to go, giving her a team-high eight points, but there just wasn't enough time left on the clock for the Sabres to get another opportunity.
Afterwards, the tears flowed for Simcoe, many players having taken part in their final high school contest.
"We have a very tight team and for a lot of these girls, this is their last year. We kind of wanted to end off with that fourth win because we've had three years in a row (dating back to junior), but we said in the locker room, 'We're not just a team, we're a family,'" Potts said.
"We play for the love of the game...that's all that matters at the end."
"On the other side, it was elation for the Titans, their fans and coaching staff, as they celebrated their second title in three years and biggest upset of the season with medals around their necks.
"Tonight it was unreal, we never have fans and today they were just so loud so it was really exciting, I loved it," said Mitchell.
Tina Zelem had eight points for the Titans, who will move on to the CWOSSA Championships at Jacob Hespeler in Cambridge next Friday and Saturday.
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