Brantford Expositor: St. John's Captures OFSAA Silver in Windsor

The St. John's College Green Eagles senior girls basketball program continued its outstanding run at OFSAA this weekend in Windsor.

Playing in the most recent Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations AAA championship, St. John's captured silver when it lost to Hamilton's St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School 57-40 in the final.

St. Mary's was the tournament's No. 1 seed while St. John's was ranked second.

It was the eighth straight year SJC has attended OFSAA under the guidance of coach Matt Lynch, bringing home five medals during that stretch - one gold, three silver and an antique bronze (fourth place).

Although the Green Eagles obviously wanted gold this season, Lynch was far from disappointed with the team's second-place finish.

"There's definitely pride, no disappointment at all," said Lynch, who has been helped on the bench by Steve Van Leeuwen and Gina Tarantello during the school's great run.

"The scene in the change room after was very celebratory. From a coach's standpoint, I couldn't be more proud of the girls and what they accomplished this year."

The Brant County and Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association champions wind up with a 32-4 record this season. Making it to the OFSAA championship was one of the team's goals.

"That was a big drive for us this year, for sure," said Green Eagles player Maddi Cohoon.

"It was amazing. We all played for each other. It was a great feeling to win (silver) as a team. It was a total team win."

After beating Newmarket 58-49 on Thursday, the Green Eagles defeated Thomas A. Stewart 67-17 in Round 2 and Oakridge Secondary School 59-26 in the quarter-finals.

St. John's qualified for the final with a 54-37 win against Oakwood Collegiate in the semifinals on Saturday morning.

"They played great basketball," said Lynch. "They kind of took it to a different level this last three or four weeks.

"We had a tough first game against a good Newmarket team (at OFSAA). That was kind of our wakeup call. Then they just kept playing better and better and better.

"The scores probably don't indicate it but those are some pretty good teams we beat."

In the final, SJC met up with one of the few other teams in the province with as impressive a resume as its own.

"They're a great team," Lynch said of St. Mary's. "They can all shoot the ball and even when they sub, their subs can shoot the ball well, too. They're well coached.

"They've won OFSAA four years in a row and it's no secret why. They're just a great team, top to bottom."
Despite the loss, Cohoon was proud of her teammates.

"We go into every game and our goal is to play with perfect effort," she said. "I think that's what we did."

One of Cohoon's teammates, Kendra Van Leeuwen, has played at the national level for Canada. She said playing for Canada or at OFSAA can be similar.

"I think it compares because it's a feeling that you get when you step onto the court," she said. "No matter where you go, you always want to play and you always get that feeling of excitement, at any level."

Like Cohoon, she was ecstatic to be a member of such a great team.

"I couldn't be more proud of our team," said Van Leeuwen. "We really pushed ourselves to our limits and we really showed how much heart we have and how much we could accomplish as a team."

"They're a great group from top to bottom, both basketball wise and just character wise, too," Lynch added.
"I can't say enough good things about these girls. They're an awesome bunch and it was a lot of fun coaching them this year. They deserve everything they've accomplished."

While the team is still celebrating its silver-medal win, there's no doubt they'll be looking to the future shortly.
"I would expect to return a large portion of the team next year and then we have some great juniors coming up from the CWOSSA championship team as well," said Lynch, noting that Megan Thompson and Jen Garner are the only two players who he's quite certain will not return next season.

"Each year presents different challenges. We look to be competitive next year, too. Even though we've been pretty successful and gone to OFSAA eight years in a row now we recognize that it's a special thing and it doesn't always happen.

"Next year we're going to have to play hard and work hard to get to where we were this year."

Cohoon said the team can only hope to get back to where it was.

"It'll be different," she said. "We played our last game for Megan (Thompson). It was our last time playing with her but we hope that next year -- we set goals at the beginning of the year, that'll be one of them, to get in that same position."

For Thompson, it was her fifth and final year of eligibility and she was able to achieve one of her goals.
"It's a goal I've been shooting for since I started playing high school basketball," she said. "Starting as a junior, you'd see the seniors go to OFSAA and you were like, 'Wow, I want to get there one day and win a medal.'"

Thompson, a captain along with Cohoon and Van Leeuwen, said her basketball experience at SJC won't be forgotten anytime soon.

"I feel like I definitely grew as a player for sure and coach Lynch and Van Leeuwen had a lot to do with that," said Thompson, who hopes to play basketball at university next year.

"(The girls) are definitely what made the experience. It wouldn't be the same without the teammates and how we push each other and support each other.

"It's been awesome with the team and coaches. They're the ones who have made me grow as a player and person."

Other members of the the silver-medal winning team include Lauren deMontmorency, Sam Dupont, Leah Coon, Ashley Derks, Erin Dubois, Jen Garner, Alex Girardi and Alaina McMillan.

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