GUELPH — Sydney Wilson made her final
District 10 high school senior girls' basketball game at Guelph CVI a
memorable one.
"Her last game in our gym was special for her," GCVI coach Matt Blair said. "She played great."
Anchoring both the offence and the defence
for the host Green Gaels, captain Wilson helped GCVI reach the D10
senior final for the first time since 2010 as the Gaels edged the
defending champion Centennial Spartans 49-44 in a thrilling game.
After the Gaels went ahead early with a
strong first quarter, the Spartans battled back and went ahead by a
couple of points midway through the third quarter. However, a play by
Wilson tied the score and changed the game's momentum. She intercepted a
pass at the top of the key in the GC end then raced down the court with
Spartans in chase before laying the ball into the net to tie the score
in the final minute of the third quarter.
"That definitely got the crowd going,"
Wilson said. "It gave us the momentum, too, which was good because we
needed it."
"I remember the first time I saw Syd when
she was playing junior and she did exactly the same thing," Blair said.
"No one works harder than Syd. Defence, offence, she never stops
working."
The Gaels would stretch the lead to eight in
the fourth quarter, but Centennial wouldn't go away and took the match
into the final dozen seconds before the hosts could breathe a little
easier.
The Gaels led 15-8 at the end of the first
quarter, 29-25 at halftime and 35-33 at the end of the third quarter.
"This was the biggest pressure game because
our whole season was like nothing, we stop here if we don't win," Blair
said. "Now we get to go to the D10 final, which the girls are really
excited about, and we get to go to CWOSSA, which is another tournament
and the girls are excited about that. The rest of it is a piece of cake.
We knew Centennial would be tough. We're ecstatic and it's a monkey off
our back, so to speak."
Wilson connected for 25 points for the Gaels
while Jenna Falconer and Emina Bektic collected 10 apiece.
Carter Godman had a game-high 26 points for Centennial while Lauren Zonneveld netted 11.
While GC's senior squad hasn't won the D10
title since 1969, the junior team did capture its league crown in 2012
when Wilson and fellow senior Gaels Jenna Falconer and Abbey MacIntyre
were members of that squad.
"In Grade 10, we won D10 so it's exciting to
come back," Wilson said. "It's not exactly the same team, but I'm
really looking forward to it."
The Gaels will play the Ross Royals in
Monday night's final after Ross defeated the Bishop Macdonell Celtics
48-36 in Thursday's other semifinal.
Maddy Darling led the Royals with 14 points
while Ali Darling and Mya Leacock added 12 apiece. Diane Priamo had 14
for Bishop Mac.
The final is expected to be played at the
University of Guelph's Mitchell Athletics Centre beginning at 8 p.m.
D10 Jr. Girls Basketball
The Bishop Macdonell Celtics and Lourdes Crusaders will meet in the junior final Monday night.
The Celtics defeated the St. James Lions
48-21 in one semifinal while Lourdes downed the Centennial Spartans
41-24 in the other.
Grace Drewry had 10 points for Bishop Mac while Brooke Billings had four points for St. James.
Jessica Mathieu led Lourdes with 15 points
while Jada Codrington and Samantha Romero had eight apiece. Sabrina
Smith collected seven for Centennial while Andrea Mullins had six and
Abby Cain gathered five.
The junior final is expected to start at 6 p.m. Monday.
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