"AA" Senior CWOSSA - Tomorrow/Saturday in Paris

For the first time since 2003, the CWOSSA region will be sending a team other than Bishop Macdonell to the OFSAA "AA" tournament.

The Celtics, who had won the last 12 titles, were defeated 56-52 by rival Our Lady of Lourdes in the D10 championship game.  With both schools being "AA", Lourdes received the league's lone CWOSSA berth.

Lourdes, who was also the D10's regular season champion, will enter as prohibitive favourites to win the tournament.

Like the junior tournament, the team with the best chance of knocking them off may come from their own pool -- the Galt Ghosts.  The Ghosts feature Beth Fleming, one of the better players in the CWOSSA region.  Fleming has put up some big numbers and kept the Ghosts in some games against the upper-echelon teams in the WCSSAA region.

Also joining Galt and Lourdes in Pool "B" will be Holy Trinity (Simcoe) from NSSAA.

Grey Highlands (BAA), Wellington Heights (D4) and St. David (D8) comprise the teams in Pool "A".

Schedule Link:  http://scorestop.com/cgi-bin/scores/sportCustom.cgi?divisionID=662&seasonID=88

Pool A Projection:  St. David 2-0; Grey Highlands 1-1; Wellington Hts. 0-2

Pool B Projection:  Lourdes 2-0; Galt 1-1; Holy Trinity 0-2

Semifinal Projections:  Lourdes over Grey Highlands; Galt over St. David

Championship Final Projection:  Lourdes over Galt 

"AA" Junior CWOSSA - Tomorrow & Saturday in Brantford/Paris

The "AA" Junior Girls' CWOSSA tournament tips off tomorrow at Pauline Johnson CVI in Brantford.

All pool games will be at PJCVS, while Saturday's semifinal and championship final will go at Paris DHS.

Guelph's Bishop Macdonell will be looking to capture their 3rd straight title, and continue the D10's league streak -- BMAC or Lourdes have combined to win the last 13 "AA" CWOSSA Junior titles.

The team with the best chance of knocking off the Celtics, WCSSAA's Galt Ghosts, are actually in the same pool.  The top two teams in each pool advance to the semifinal (cross-over) round, with the winners meeting in the final.

Here are the teams, with regular season record in brackets:

Pool A
Sacred Heart (Walkerton; 5-3 BAA)
St. David (Waterloo; 4-6 D8)
Wellington Hts. (Mt. Forest; 10-0 D4)

Pool B
Galt CI (Cambridge; 11-1 WCSSAA)
Bishop Macdonell (Guelph; 13-1 D10)
Simcoe DSS (Simcoe; 6-1 NSSAA)

Schedule Link:  http://scorestop.com/cgi-bin/scores/sportCustom.cgi?divisionID=662&seasonID=88

Projections
Pool "A" should be quite interesting.  Wellington Heights and St. David look to be the two teams with the best chance of advancing -- although I'm not sure on who might win their head-to-head match-up.  WHSS doesn't have a lot of offensive firepower, but is one of the best defensive teams in the CWOSSA region.

Pool "B", on the other end, should be fairly straightforward.  The Galt Ghosts and the Bishop Macdonell Celtics, should both be able to defeat Simcoe and secure semifinal berths.  Given that this is the projected final, it will be interesting to see how both coaches handle their pool game.  I'll take the Celtics to finish atop the pool with a 2-0 record.

Pool A Projection:  St. David 2-0; Wellington Hts. 1-1; Sacred Heart 0-2

Pool B Projection:  Bishop Mac 2-0; Galt CI 1-1; Simcoe CS 0-2

Semifinal Projections:  Galt over St. David; Bishop Mac over Wellington Hts.

Championship Final:  Bishop Mac over Galt

"A" CWOSSA - Tomorrow in Waterford

The "A" CWOSSA tournament, a four-team affair, will take place tomorrow in Waterford.

On the junior side, the four qualifying teams are Walkerton DCS (BAA), Peninsula Shores (BAA), Woodland CHS (D8) and Delhi DSS (D9).

The senior foursome also features two BAA teams -- Kincardine and Peninsula Shores, along with PRDG (D8) and Delhi DSS (D9).

Junior Draw - Single Elimination
9am (Semifinal):  Walkerton vs. Delhi
10:30am (Semifinal):  Woodland vs. PSDS

3pm - Final

Senior Draw - Single Elimination
Noon (Semifinal):  Kincardine vs. Delhi
1:30pm (Semifinal):  PRDG vs. PSDS

5pm - Final

Projections
On the junior side, Woodland CHS would appear to be the team to beat, going undefeated through District 8 regular season and playoff play.

I'll give the slight edge in the other semifinal to Delhi DSS, with the Cavs taking the final.

Junior Semifinal Winners:  Delhi & Woodland
Junior Champion:  Woodland 

On the senior side, Kincardine DSS is a very strong team.  In the regular season, they scored 272 points while giving up just 75 in six league games.  The playoffs were no different, as they included a 25-point semifinal win over Owen Sound, and a 48 (!) point championship final victory over Grey Highlands.

PRDG was competitive in the District 8 league, losing by single-digits to several of the "AAA" schools.  It will be interesting to see how they stack up, but on paper it would appear as though KDSS has too much firepower.

Senior Semifinal Winners:  Kincardine & PRDG
Senior Champion:  Kincardine

The Record: KCI and Waterloo-Oxford Win Girls' Basketball Titles

Article By:  Mark Bryson

CAMBRIDGE — Natalie Armatage felt the weight that goes along with increased expectations. 

The KCI Raiders captured their second straight Waterloo County junior girls' high school basketball championship Tuesday night — this time as overwhelming favourites — with a 45-26 win over the Galt Ghosts. 

The Raiders defeated the Waterloo-Oxford Crusaders last year as decided underdogs and Armatage said the most recent win felt very different because of that. 

"I felt a bit more pressure coming into this game, to be honest. Last year, we had nothing to lose, so we just went out, played hard and won," she said. "This year, we had more weight on our shoulders coming in as the No. 1 seed. But we handled it well." 

Indeed, they did.

Armatage led the way with a game-high 16 points, as the Raiders jumped out to a 19-4 lead at Preston High School. They only briefly had to look into the rear-view mirror when the Ghosts narrowed the gap to eight points, 30-22, at the midway point of the third quarter. 

Mikaela White added 14 points for the Raiders, Emily Smith and Grace Mickie both added seven. 

Maggie McLean had a strong defensive game. 

Charlie Ridge had eight points for Galt and Azaliah Colquhoun had six. 

The Raiders finished the WCSSAA portion of their season with a 15-0 record, including a 48-20 win over the Ghosts during the regular season. Galt finished at 13-2, with both losses coming to KCI. 

Both teams advance to Central Western Ontario tournaments later this week. KCI moves on to CWOSSA triple-A tournament in Waterloo, along with St. Benedict, Sir John A. Macdonald, Brantford Collegiate, Orangeville District, and either Waterloo-Oxford or Owen Sound. 

"Hopefully we can medal this year," said Armatage. "We came up short in the semifinals last year, so we'll try to change that." 

Galt advances to the CWOSSA double-A championship in Paris and Brantford. 

Later in the evening, the Waterloo-Oxford cruised to their first WCSSAA senior title since 2013, with a 49-33 win over the Jacob Hespeler Hawks. 

Rachael Beitz, MacKeely Shantz and Madeline Woolvett led the Crusaders with 15, 12 and 10 points respectively, in front of a boisterous pro-Hawks crowd. 

The Crusaders led 16-3 after the first quarter, 27-11 at halftime, and 37-23 after three quarters. 

Charlotte Clifford scored 16 for Jacob Hespeler, Amy Claydon had seven and Carlie Riggan had six.

Jacob Hespeler (13-2) handed Waterloo-Oxford (14-1) its only loss of the season, a 43-37 decision on Oct. 27. 

Both teams advance to the CWOSSA triple-A tournament, along with the District 8 champion Resurrection Phoenix, Guelph Collegiate, Brantford St. John's, and Waterloo Collegiate.

Retrieved From:  http://www.therecord.com/sports-story/6968394-kci-and-waterloo-oxford-win-basketball-championships/

CWOSSA "AAA" Qualification Update

Senior Girls
D8 - Resurrection
WCSSAA (2) - Jacob Hespeler & WODSS
WCSSAA/BAA - Winner of WCI vs. Owen Sound
D5 - St. John's
D10 - Guelph CVI

Junior Girls
D8 - St. Benedict
WCSSAA (2) - KCI & SJAM
WCSSAA/BAA - Winner of WODSS vs. Owen Sound
D5 - Brantford CI
D10 - Orangeville DSS

D8 Finals: Cavs, Phoenix Complete Perfect Seasons

Things were tight for a while in both championship finals on Monday evening at Resurrection, but the cream eventually rose to the top with the Woodland Cavaliers (Junior) and Resurrection Phoenix (Senior) capturing District 8 titles.

On the junior side, the victory for Woodland marked the school's first-ever title in girls' basketball, and their first overall basketball title since D8's first season in 1990-91 (Woodland Midget Boys).

WCHS started slowly, only scoring 2 points in an opening quarter that ended 5-2 for St. Benedict.  However, they clamped down on defense in the second quarter, going on a 10-0 run to head into halftime up 12-5.

Both teams woke up offensively to start the second half, with nearly as many points scored in the first half of the third quarter (14) as the entire first half.  By the end of the 3rd, Woodland had extended their lead to double digits, 24-13.

St. Benedict was able to cut things to within 5 points (25-20) early in the fourth, before a 7-0 Woodland run essentially put things away, en route to a 33-23 final score.

Although much has been made of Woodland's impressive duo of Jenna Duimering and Sydney VanderHoef, it was Alanna Parker -- who hadn't been among Woodland's leading scorers in any game on the D8 website -- picking a great time to have a big game, as she led all scorers with 13 points.  Duimering added 10, while VanderHoef scored 8.

Trinity Lombardi (10), Angie Tran (5) and Emma Croswell (4) were the top scorers for the Saints.

Senior
The Resurrection Phoenix completed their perfect D8 season, winning their second consecutive Senior crown and fourth in the last five years.

However, there were some nervous moments early on for Rez fans in attendance as the Saints stuck around for the opening quarter and a half.  The Phoenix only led 14-12 before a 10-0 run in the final 3:30 of the second quarter gave them some breathing room and a 24-12 lead at the break.

The Phoenix extended their lead to 17 points on a Meghan Sharpe put-back which made the score 32-15 late in the 3rd quarter.  

St. Benedict did chip into things in a fourth quarter that saw a lot of liberal substitutions, keeping things respectable in a 44-34 final score.

Meghan Sharpe (11) and Buse Bin-Edward (8) led the way for Rez, while Alex Webb, a grade nine, led SBCSS with 10.  Elizabeth D'Souza added 9 for the Saints.

With the win, Resurrection advances to the "AAA" CWOSSA tournament this coming weekend in Waterloo.

D8 Finals: Cavs Seek First Junior Title

The Woodland Cavaliers are on the verge of history.

The Cavs, the #1 seed and undefeated in District 8 play this season, enter the championship final against St. Benedict (game at Resurrection, 6pm) on a roll.

Another win tonight and Woodland would have the school's first girls' basketball title in history.

In fact, Woodland has only won one basketball title (boys or girls) -- a Midget Boys' crown back in the first year of District 8, 1989-90.

Standing in their way will be St. Benedict, the #3 seed.  St. Benedict "upset" Resurrection in the semifinals, ending Resurrection's chance at a 6th straight D8 Junior crown.

Woodland might have actually preferred to face Rez in the final, given that they've had better results against the Phoenix than the Saints this season.

Woodland's wins over St. Benedict came by 11 points at home, and then by just four points (42-38) on the road exactly one month ago today.

I certainly think this will be the closer of the two finals, but the duo of Jenna Duimering and Sydney VanderHoef should be able to deliver Woodland's first title to Breslau.

The Cavs will also play at "A" CWOSSA this weekend, while St. Benedict will be D8's representative at "AAA" CWOSSA.

Prediction:  Woodland 39, St. Benedict 30

On the senior side, Resurrection will be looking for the 7th D8 Senior title in school history, and fourth championship in the last five years.

Rez was victorious by comfortable margins (56-22 and 53-26) during the regular season, so it's safe to say that they are considerable favourites entering play tonight (game time is 8pm at Rez).

Of course, anything can happen in a one-game scenario and St. Benedict does have three capable scorers in Julia Mascarenhas, Maya Danis, and Alex Webb.

If the Saints can keep things close, especially early on, it could get interesting.  The Phoenix haven't had a close game in weeks, so it would be worth noting how they handle it should that be the case.

Of course, Rez features one of the best backcourts in CWOSSA (Krissia Vasquez & Meghan Sharpe) while grade ten guard Sydney Gucker-Wickie is another next-level talent.  Though the Phoenix aren't deep (numbers wise), they can spread around the scoring with the best of them.

The winner of this game advances to this weekend's CWOSSA "AAA" tournament in Waterloo.

Prediction:  Resurrection 49, St. Benedict 31

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/

Finals Set in D8, WCSSAA, D10

Although some of the games were close, it will be #1 vs. #2 in virtually all of the WCSSAA, D10, and D8 Junior & Senior Girls' finals this week and next.

The first of these championships will take place tomorrow in Orangeville, where ODSS will play host to the D10 finals.

Interestingly enough, the host school will have a participant in the girls' finals for the first time in quite some time, as the #1 seeded Junior Bears rolled through their semifinal yesterday afternoon, 62-27 over #5 JF Ross.  Lauren Foullong (24) and Maggie Franz (14) paced the Bears, while Sarah Hopkins had 8 for JFR.

The Bears will be hosting perennial D10 powerhouse Bishop Mac, winners of the last two junior D10 titles.

Bishop Mac had no trouble dispatching #3 St. James, 53-20, also locking up an "AA" CWOSSA berth in the process.

On the senior side, the two finalists are #1 Lourdes and #2 Bishop Mac.

The Crusaders got all they could handle from #5 Centennial, but prevailed by a 35-31 count yesterday afternoon.  Jessica Mathieu (14) and Jada Codrington (12) did most of the damage for Lourdes.

Bishop Mac posted a 47-32 win over GCVI.  Scoring details were not immediately available from source.

D8 Finals - Monday
The highest senior seed, Resurrection CSS, will play host to the D8 Finals this coming Monday.  

On Wednesday, Rez rolled over #4 St. David by a 42-11 count, with Krissia Vasquez contributing a game-high 21 points.

The Phoenix will play #2 St. Benedict, who escaped with a 33-30 semifinal victory over St. Mary's.  Alex Webb (13 for SBCSS) and Summer Pahl (9 for SMHS) led their respective teams.

The Rez juniors will be the lone #1 or #2 seed not to make a playoff final, as the #2 Phoenix were upset 39-29 by #3 St. Benedict.

Resurrection actually led by 7 points at halftime, before the Saints caught fire in the second half.

Woodland will be seeking their first-ever Junior Girls' title, following a 34-19 semifinal win over St. David.  Sydney VanderHoef had 11 to pace the Cavs.

Interestingly enough, Woodland had a bit tougher time with St. Benedict (wins by 4 & 11 points) than Resurrection (wins by 6 & 22 points) during the regular season.

WCSSAA Finals - Tuesday
Preston HS will again be hosting the WCSSAA finals on Tuesday evening.

The #2 WODSS Crusaders had one of their best performances of the season yesterday, controlling things from start to finish against #3 WCI in a 56-28 win.  

Mackeely Shantz (17) paced W-O, while Ramla Abdalla had 9 for the Vikes.

#1 Jacob Hespeler was a 49-38 winner in their semifinal over #4 SJAM.  Carlie Riggan (17) and Sonja Matthews (14) were the top Hawks, while Griffin Lack-Shane had 15 for the 'Landers.

Jacob Hespeler and WODSS will be a "rematch" of the 2013 WCSSAA finals, won by W-O in a 43-37 thriller.

WCI & SJAM will play for WCSSAA's 3rd entry to CWOSSA, which is a play-in game against Owen Sound CVI.

On the junior side, there were no surprises as #1 KCI continued their dominance with a 54-14 win over WODSS.  Grace Mickie (17) and Maggie McLean (16) were the high scorers for the Raiders.

Galt Collegiate will be making a rare trip to the WCSSAA finals following a 40-29 home win over SJAM.  The Ghosts put three players in double figures -- Azaliah Colquhoun (13), Jenna Stirling (12), and Kennedy Robinson (12).

KCI has qualified for "AAA" CWOSSA, while the Ghosts will be heading to "AA" CWOSSA.  WODSS and SJAM will also be participating in (at minimum) an AAA CWOSSA play-in game.

Brantford Expositor: Sweet Victory for St. John's College Green Eagles

Article By:  Michael-Allan Marion

The St. John’s College Green Eagles and the North Park Collegiate Trojans demonstrated what keen competition with no quarter asked and no quarter given means, as the Eagles finally prevailed 42-40 in double overtime to win the Brant County senior girls basketball championship on Thursday.

Wielding fog horns and other noisemakers in the host Assumption College gymnasium, a crowd of close to 100 was entertained by a closely fought game. The saw end-to-end rushing in which the lead changed hands several times in every quarter and through two four-minute overtime periods.

With that, the Eagles took the best of three championship series in two straight games.

The victory represented the 11th consecutive time the senior Eagles have won the championship.
Team members stood in succession on a ladder and cut one strand at a time of the net beneath the opposing team’s hoop to claim it as their own.

“It’s a proud moment. It’s the culmination of hard work and determination and of a good performance over the year,” St. John’s head coach Matt Lynch said as members of the team went through the net cutting ritual.

He admired how the team handled the pressure of a 100-year history of tasting victory.

“The girls buy into a system with expectation and they accepted them,” Lynch said.

“You can’t say enough that is good about North Park. They played hard over two nights,” he added.

Andrea Hawkins, head coach of the Trojans, was effusive in praise for both teams.

“It was an awesome game,” she said.

“It was one of the best games in high school basketball I’ve seen in a long time.”

Hawkins noted that both teams played defensive in the first half, then broke out in the second.

She was impressed how Kate Overeem for the Eagles and Brooke Cesar for the Trojans were leaders for their respective teams, rushing the ball down the court and setting up plays.

North Park was ahead 10-8 at the end of the first quarter with a three-pointer from Amber Legett, a three-pointer and basket from Noelle Adams, and a basket from Brooke Cesar.

St. John’s responded with baskets from Sadie Lemmon, Emily Dignan, Ashley Derks and two points on foul shots made good by Kate Overeem.

The second quarter was just as close with the Eagles claiming the lead 15-14 at the half. Brooke Cesar found the basket twice for North Park, while Lemmon, Bridget Kwasnik and Overeem kept St. John’s in the game, pecking at the competition’s ears.

The third quarter was even closer, ending with St. John’s in the lead 26-25.

Both teams upped the pressure in the fourth quarter, each team putting points on the board to finish the regular part of the game 35-35, throwing the game into overtime.

Overeem scored a basket early in the four-minute period, but Cesar tied the game with a shot at the last second to tie the game again at 37-37.

The crowd was on their feet through much of the second four-minute overtime period. After more jockeying brought the two sides to 40-40, Lemmon launched the ball for a championship-winning basket with only 16 seconds to go.

The senior Eagles won their 11th consecutive championship.

They advance to the CWOSSA finals next Friday and Saturday at Waterloo Collegiate Institute.

“I wish St. John’s the best of luck at CWOSSA. They’re playing for us,” she said.

“We’re going to be back next year doing the same thing.”

Retrieved From:  http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2016/11/11/sweet-victory-for-st-johns-college-green-eagles

WCSSAA Junior: Huskies Post Lone "Upset" in Qualifying Round

The #9 Huron Heights Huskies were the lone visiting team to advance through the qualifying round last week, sneaking out a 39-36 win over #8 Bluevale Collegiate.

The Huskies received strong efforts from Dayja Henry (17) and Kristen Riggan (11) in the win.

#6 Grand River just snuck past #11 Elmira, 30-29, thanks primarily to 16 points from Danijela Novicic.  This sets up an interesting semifinal between the Rens and #3 SJAM; the teams played to a 39-37 SJAM win in the regular season.

#5 WODSS (26-11 over #12 WCI) and #7 Forest Heights (40-22 over #10 Glenview Park) were the other qualifying round winners.

That sets up tomorrow's QF round --- all are 3:15pm starts:
(9) Huron Heights at (1) KCI
(7) Forest Hts. at (2) Galt
(6) Grand River at (3) SJAM
(5) WODSS at (4) Southwood

WCSSAA Senior: Fleming Paces Ghosts to QF Round, CWOSSA

I had mentioned in my playoff preview last week how Galt's Beth Fleming was one of the players who can take over a game in the playoffs.

I certainly wasn't expecting Fleming to post a 36-point effort last Thursday, outscoring the entire Glenview Park team in a 44-35 victory for the Ghosts.

The game was also significant as both teams were in the running for WCSSAA's "AA" CWOSSA berth.  With the win, the Ghosts will be the representative.

Preston (#6) got all they could handle (as perhaps expected) from #11 Elmira but advanced with a 26-22 win.  PHS' Brooke Davidson was the lone player in double-figures with 10.

Grand River (#7) advanced 58-30 over Huron Heights, backed by a 21-point effort from Nancy Michael.

#5 Bluevale cruised past #12 Cameron Heights, 58-18.  Maddy Weber of the Knights led all scorers with 15.

Those results set up the following QF games tomorrow (all at 3:15pm except the BCI/SJAM game, which is a 4:45pm tip):

(8) Galt at (1) Jacob Hespeler
(7) Grand River at (2) WODSS
(6) Preston at (3) WCI
(5) Bluevale at (4) SJAM

Brantford Expositor: Trojans in Senior Girls Basketball Final

Article By:  Brian Smiley

Their win wasn't pretty on Thursday but the North Park Collegiate Trojans senior girls basketball team will take it.

Hosting Assumption College in a Brant County high school sudden-death semifinal, the Trojans scraped together a 34-31 win.

The victory moves North Park into next week's best-of-three championship series at Assumption College. Games will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday and, if necessary, Nov. 11.
North Park's opponent was not known at press time as St. John's College hosted Brantford Collegiate Institute in a late semifinal.

The Trojans felt butterflies in the early stages of their game against the Lions.

"I think my team felt the pressure," said NPC coach Andrea Hawkins. "I think their goal, even last year, was to try and win a city title. For the first time in 20 years, it's reachable.

"They knew this was the stopping point."

North Park and the rest of the Brant County league has played second fiddle to St. John's College over the past few years. SJC went an impressive 10-0 this season and it will prove tough to unseat the defending champs.

Against Assumption, the first point of the game didn't come until the 3:32 mark as Amber Leggett made the second shot on a pair of free throws to put North Park ahead 1-0.

Exactly one minute later, Lauren Snider did the same for the Lions and finally, at 4:24, Assumption's Kayla Gaucher got the first field goal of the game on a layup underneath the basket.

At the end of the first quarter, the home team held a 10-6 lead and, when halftime rolled around, that advantage had extended itself to 18-12.

Both teams shooting had improved a bit by that point but the game was sloppy. Travel calls were numerous and fouls were an issue, particularly for Assumption.

Going into the third quarter, the Lions found themselves with three players -- Dakota Tlustos, Gaucher and Snider -- in foul trouble.

With both teams cold again, it took a while for things to get going and, with 1:43 to play until the final quarter, Snider hit a three to pull ACS to within two at 21-19.

North Park, which led by as many as nine, then fell behind 22-21 before grabbing a 23-21 lead with eight minutes to play.

To start the fourth, NPC scored the opening five points. And, although ACS never gave up, the Lions could get no closer than three points.

Fouls were part of the problem for the Lions. By the time the game was over, Gaucher, Snider, Tlustos and Grace Shea had all fouled out.

"I'm not frustrated," ACS coach Rick Baldin said. "I'm disappointed because it's my first game in high school when I have (four) girls on the bench with five fouls.

"I'm not going to blame the game on the officials but it did affect our game plan."
In the end, North Park got a whopping 35 foul shots but only sank 13.

"Our biggest drawback was we just didn't make any buckets and normally we do," said Baldin, whose team was led by his daughter, Rikayla Baldin, and Snider. "They just weren't going in for us. It didn't go our way tonight with the rim."

Despite that, the coach was pleased with his team's effort.

"I'm proud of the way the girls played until the end of the game."

Hawkins said she is looking forward to her players doing some things in the championship series that they couldn't do against Assumption.

"I think we struggled running our offence," said the coach, who got strong efforts in the semifinal from Brooke Cesar and Bria Yurczyszyn.

In the junior final, defending champion Brantford Collegiate Institute will face St. John's College.

The junior best-of-three championship also will take place at Assumption College on Tuesday, Thursday and, if necessary, Nov. 11. Game times are 5:30 p.m.

BCI advanced to the final after beating Assumption College 58-22 in a semifinal. Lindsay Bonnucci scored 15 points to lead the Mustangs while Maegan Dorris got 14 and Paige Bagshaw netted eight.

Olivia Scott scored six to place ACS.

The Green Eagles scored a thrilling, 35-33 double-overtime win against North Park in its semifinal at home.

Delaney Garlow, Nicolle Boeyenga and Jaden Giles were top scorers for SJC while Madison Hunter, Kaitlyn House and Simeran Grewal were outstanding for NPC.

Retrieved From:  http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2016/11/03/trojans-in-senior-girls-basketball-final

D8: Rez Seniors Extended Winning Streak to 12; Clear Favourite Entering Playoffs

The Resurrection Phoenix have now won 12 consecutive league and playoff games, which is now the second longest active streak in the CWOSSA region (behind St. John's).

The Phoenix cruised to a 36-18 win over St. David in their season finale last week, with Krissia Vasquez scoring 15 points to pace the winners.

This capped a 10-0 regular season where Resurrection won their games by an average margin of 30 points per contest.

The top two teams in the D8 senior standings earned first-round byes and will host semifinal games on Wednesday.

Today's quarterfinals are as follows:

(B2) Mons. Doyle at (A3) St. Mary's --> winner plays at #2 SBCSS

(B1) PRDG at (A4) St. David --> winner plays at #1 Resurrection

Junior
The dream season continues for the Woodland Cavaliers, who finished at 10-0 and three games clear of their second place opponent.

All six teams qualify for the playoffs, which commence this afternoon with the quarterfinal round.

(6) Rockway at (3) St. Benedict --> winner plays at #2 Resurrection

(5) St. Mary's at (4) St. David --> winner plays at #1 Woodland

D10: Lourdes Sweeps Bishop Mac; Earns #1 D10 Senior Seed

2 for 2.

The Lourdes Crusaders swept the season series from their "AA" CWOSSA rivals, the Bishop Mac Celtics, by a 45-33 count last Thursday.

With the win, the Crusaders finished the season at 11-1 and earning the #1 seed over the Celtics, who finished second with a 10-2 mark.

Scoring details weren't immediately available from source.

JF Ross defeated GCVI, 37-34, so both teams finished with identical 7-5 records.  However, D10 tiebreaking procedures award the better playoff position to a team with wins above them in league standings -- so GCVI gets 3rd based upon their earlier win over Lourdes.

Here are the QF matchups.  In the 7-team league, #1 Lourdes earns a bye:

(7) CWDHS at (2) Bishop Mac
(6) Orangeville at (3) GCVI
(5) Centennial at (4) JF Ross

Junior
On the junior side, Orangeville and Bishop Mac finished with identical 13-1 records; ODSS earned the top billing for the playoffs based upon the +/- between the teams in regular season meetings.

The Bears will be seeking their first D10 title in 29 years (1988).  Interestingly enough, ODSS is playing host to the D10 finals this Saturday as the Guelph Gryphons will be occupying the usual site at the UofG for their home opener.

Here's a look at tomorrow's QF games:
(8) CWDHS at (1) Orangeville
(7) GCVI at (2) Bishop Mac
(6) Lourdes at (3) St. James
(5) JF Ross at (4) Centennial