Wins certainly didn't come easy on Thursday afternoon for two "top four" teams in the D10 senior girls' circuit.
Though I had pegged both games as "8 or 9 point" wins, they were certainly much closer than that as the St. James Lions and Lourdes Crusaders were victorious in their games by a combined 3 points.
The Crusaders snuck past Centre Wellington 43-42 in Fergus, backed by 14 from Monica Trimble and 11 from Hannah Pearsall. Hailey Salvian had another strong effort for CW, notching a game-high 17; Madison Fennell added 9 more for the Falcons.
Meanwhile, at Guelph CVI, St. James' Keely McVicar scored the winning bucket as St. James nipped the Gaels 50-48. McVicar, who had 10 points, was one of four Lions in double figures, with the others being Chelsey Gazzola (19), Brittany Gazzola (11), and Julia Toscoa (10).
Cally Strongman (15), Jamie Young (10), Hanna Chidwick (10) and Clay Barley-Janzen (9) provided an equally balanced GCVI attack.
The other reported score from Thursday saw Ross roll past Orangeville 61-35.
Sydney Resch poured in a game-high 28 points for Ross, with Julia Robertson and Teddi Taran adding 10 each. Claire Fenton had 15 for ODSS, with Evelyn Burgess adding 8.
The JF Ross and Lourdes wins allowed them to "officially clinch" home playoff games in the first-round of the D10 playoffs.
Senior D10 Standings
1. Bishop Mac 9-0*
T2. Lourdes 8-2*
T2. JF Ross 8-2*
4. St. James 6-4
5. CWDHS 4-6
6. GCVI 3-7
7. Centennial 1-8
8. Orangeville 0-10
* - clinched first-round home playoff game
Junior
It's shaping up to be a very exciting finish to the D10 junior girls' basketball season --- at this point, there isn't really a "clear favourite" to take home the title.
The Centennial Spartans evened their record at 5-5 by taking out a CWOSSA Top-10 ranked team, the Bishop Mac Celtics, by a 36-33 score at home on Thursday.
Emma Cain (12) and Emma Korol (9) were the leaders again for CCVI on Thursday, while Lianna Sullivan and Hannah Kendall netted 8 each for Bishop Mac.
The Guelph CVI Gaels were certainly happy to see that result as that allowed them to retain first place in the D10 standings (by themselves) despite a 50-42 home loss to St. James.
Meghan Santi had 18 and Nastassja Herriot 12 for the Lions, while Ijeoma Staunton and Sydney Wilson had 12 each for the Gaels.
Centre Wellington pulled a mild upset, picking up their third win in a 38-35 nail-biter over Lourdes. Kayla Teeter was tremendous, pouring in 19 points in the win, while Nikki Sinkner added 9. Jackie Iezzi (8) and Brin Krueger (6) topped the OLOL scoresheet.
The other contest went as expected, with JF Ross trouncing Orangeville 51-13. Maddy Darling had 15 and Mary Grace Mackan 8 for the Royals, while Caitlin McCleary and Madison Loder scored 4 each for the Bears.
D10 Junior Standings
1. Guelph CVI 8-2
T2. Bishop Mac 7-3
T2. St. James 7-3
4. JF Ross 6-4
5. Centennial 5-5
6. Lourdes 4-6
7. CWDHS 3-7
8. Orangeville 0-10
