There's one word to describe the North Park Collegiate Trojans junior girls basketball team - dominant.
On Thursday, the young Trojans capped an incredible and somewhat improbable perfect Brant County regular season after a 24-8 victory over the Pauline Johnson Collegiate Thuderbirds.
"It's been an amazing season so far," Trojans' Halle Sitarski said. "It's one of those things that's just happened."
Prior to the season, Sitarski, Gabrielle Marton and the rest of the Trojans had no idea what kind of a season it would be after a middle of the pack regular season and early exit from the playoffs a year ago.
"We wanted to win pretty bad, especially after last year," Sitarski said.
"We weren't sure how we'd do. After the first couple of games we realized what we could do. Honestly, we didn't expect to do as well as we did. We just clicked."
And that's very apparent when you watch this team that has aspirations of winning not only the Brant county title, but the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association AAA championship.
Thursday's game against the T-Birds was a microcosm of the Trojans' season, as they slowly but surely pecked away at their opposition with a combination of solid defence, and unselfish offence that has run rough shot over its opposition throughout the 10-0 run.
But if you ask the players, there's been more to the Trojans' success than just a combination of talent and great coaching.
"Our team has really become a family," Sitarski said. "Every one of us has gotten really close. Whether it's being there for each other if someone needs to talk, or just with their school work, we're all really good friends."
She said the best part about the season hasn't been the winning, it's been going to school with each other and going to the gym to play basketball together.
"Being there for each other has made this a great year," Sitarski said. "We've all had our own battles this year whether it be with basketball or something else. Even with these problems, we've gone even further. To be honest, I'm really proud of our team. We've gone through so much this year and every single one of the girls has been there for each other."
Marton said that closeness shows on the court.
"There's so much communicating when we play, and I think that's been a huge difference," Marton said. "That closeness we all have has really helped us."
While the all for one and one for all attitude has elevated the Trojans to new heights, one of the other keys to this season's success has been familiarity.
"A lot of us have played since we were young," Sitarski said. "The experienced players have done a great job helping the new players out, getting them used to the team and become experienced themselves."
And now that the Trojans are a perfect 10-0 in Brant and the playoffs are upon them, there's one thing to do.
"We want to win," Marton said.
"Everything we've done has been great so far, but we all know we want to do. There's lots of work left."
IN THE PAINT: On Thursday, it was confirmed that BCSSAA has changed its senior playoff schedule.
Quarter-finals were originally scheduled for Tuesday. Instead, the top four teams in the regular season will begin semifinals Thursday, with BCI at SJC, and NPC at ACS. Those games will start at 7 p.m. The junior quarter-finals will go as planned Tuesday, with Paris at BCI, and PJC at ACS, with SJC and NPC awaiting the winners for the semifinals Thursday. Both games are at 5:30 p.m.
Junior
North Park 24, Pauline Johnson 8
NPC: Sarah Minutillo 4, Julia Rankin 2, Larissa Hill 4, Gabrielle Marton 4, Hattie Osborne 2, Halle Sitarski 6, Arden Grob 2.
PJC: Adrianna Blitterswyk 4, Kayla Mackenzie 2, Cassie Pakula 2
Assumption 45, Brantford 20
St. John's 40, Paris 15
SJC: Rebecca Mackinnon 11, Jen Garner 7, Bridget Kwasnik 6.
Paris: Courtney Boehmer 6, Avery Hamill 5.
Senior
Assumption 53, Brantford 22
ACS: Nicole Shea 10, Alex VanDyk 12, Naomi Samuel 4.
BCI: Rachel Adkins 14, Jenna Schonbacher 4, Brooke Newsome 4.
St. John's 46, Paris 23
SJC: Porianna Bautista 9, Bridget Monkman 9, Megan Thompson 11.
Paris: Alex Forsyth 8, Marlie Stevens-Keresturi 4, Kenzie Coombe 4.
North Park over Pauline Johnson
Retrieved From: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/10/25/junior-trojans-enjoying-an-amazing-season
