D10 Finals: Celtics, Crusaders Take Titles

In one of the most exciting championship final evenings in recent memory, the Bishop Macdonell Junior Girls and the Lourdes Crusader Senior Girls took home the D10 titles in Orangeville on Saturday.

Both games were decided by 4 points or less, and the combined margin of victory between the two games (6 points) either has to be a record for an all-time low -- or very close to it.

Both winners also needed "second half comebacks" of sorts to get the title.

In the junior game, Bishop Mac trailed by as many as 7-points in the second half before Ashley Coverdale helped spur a Celtic run.

Coverdale was able to slice-and-dice her way past ODSS defenders, either setting herself up for short-range scoring opportunities (she had 14 points in the second half) or finding her teammates for quality looks.

It was a late Coverdale basket that ended up putting the Celtics up for good, 46-44, with less than a minute to play.  Both teams had several opportunities after that, but couldn't convert.

ODSS had the game's final possession, with :05 left, but were unable to get off a game-tying (or game-winning) shot.

Alongside the 18 points from Coverdale, Keely McCrone added 8 for BMAC, while Maja Gadzinska (7), Vanessa Tassone (5), Tya Timlock (4), Tina Qiu (2) and Madison St. Denis (2) rounded out the Celtic scoring.

Lauren Foullong had 13 for the Bears, doing most of her damage in the first half (10).  Shannon Baggs scored 12, while Alicia Bowering (9), Maggie Franz (6), Krista Gott (2) and Breanne Murray (2) also hit the scoresheet.

Bishop Mac's win was their third straight D10 junior title; in the process, they prevented Orangeville from capturing their first crown since 1988.

Senior
The Lourdes Crusaders took home their second-ever D10 title, and first since 2000 -- a year they also came 4th in Ontario at the AAA (highest) level.

Bishop Mac led Lourdes 35-28 entering a fourth quarter which saw a ton of points piled up.  In fact, Lourdes' 4th quarter output of 28 points equaled what they were able to get through the opening three frames.

Jada Codrington had two three-pointers in the final frame, while Rainey Psenicka added one.  Lourdes' trio of Codrington (19 points), Psenicka (16 points) and Jessica Mathieu (19 points) accounted for virtually all of OLOL's offense.  Sam Romero had the other 2 for Lourdes.

Bishop Mac also had three players in double figures -- Grace Drewry (19), Sadie Scapinello (16) and Sophia Nash (11).  Ainsley Andres (4) and Leah Parisotto (2) also scored for the Celts.

With both Lourdes and Bishop Mac being "AA" schools in size, the game also served to determine D10's representative at the CWOSSA tournament.

Lourdes' win (and Bishop Mac not advancing) means that Bishop Mac's impressive run of CWOSSA championships has come to end.  The Celtics had won the last 12 CWOSSA "AA" Senior Girls' titles, dating back to 2004.

This year, though, it's Lourdes turn.  The "AA" tournament goes this coming weekend in the Brantford area.

Note:  Rob Massey (Guelph Sports Journal) has posted photos from the championship event on Saturday.  They can be found at:  http://guelphsportsjournal.com/category/photos/