Bulldogs come up short
History repeated itself Thursday, much to the dismay of the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs dropped a 43-32 decision to the Dundas Valley Gryphons in the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association AA girls basketball championship at Churchill.
It is the second straight season the Bulldogs were denied a chance to advance to the Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association\ (OFSAA) championship by the Gryphons in the SOSSA final.
“It was same team we played last year and most of the girls were the same,” Churchill guard Ally Sentance said. “We tried not to let them beat us twice. We tried out best, but they got the better of us.”
Sentance led the Bulldogs with 11 points, but also fouled out with just over two minutes to play.
“I knew we had a few Grade 12s on the team and they really wanted to go to OFSAA this year,” she said. “I kind of feel like I let them down.
“We play as a team and we lost as a team; you can’t do much more.”
The Bulldogs advanced to the final with an easy 90-27 win over McKinnon Park earlier in the day in one semifinal. The Gryphons held off a determined E.L. Crossley squad 60-54 in the other.
“We watched them play Crossley and we know we’re close with Crossley. We were thinking if we can play with Crossley we can keep it close with these guys,” Sentance said. “I think we underestimated them.”
Churchill coach Frank Keltos agreed with his star guard.
“We thought we could jump in with both feet and go put on our hats and just go win the game. We just didn’t execute,” he said. “I don’t like losing when we don’t play well.”
Keltos tipped his cap to the Gryphons, who made it to the OFSAA quarter-finals last season.
“They’re a well disciplined team that plays good defence and like I said to them, we couldn’t remember any of our offences. We couldn’t execute anything properly.
“We didn’t trust each other and it showed.”
Keltos felt his club had so much more to offer.
“We did everything defensively on our press. We wore them down, but at the end of the day we missed a lot of layups and fouled because we were amped up,” he said. “We were just too excited and we didn’t do what we can do legally to play basketball. We thought we could manipulate the game being more aggressive.”
The Bulldogs plan to keep working out in anticipation of a trip to Florida, which will bring their season to an official end.
“Next year, we’re going to keep going and next year OFSAA for sure is our big goal,” Sentance said.
Overall, the Bulldogs had a memorable season, winning both the Welland Tribune and Standard tournaments.
“At the end of the day, it was a great season,” Keltos said. “I think we only had five losses and we won the tournaments down here. We had some great wins and great games and a lot of success.
“We only lose Olivia Nazar as one of our main top eight. We’ll be ready next year.”
Stats Pack
Gryphons 43 Bulldogs 32
Johnny’s Rocco’s/Mick and Angelo’s Star of the Game: Sir Winston Churchill guard Ally Sentance with 11 points.
Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs: Sentance 11; Kaley DeMont 10; Kennedy Millin 4; Olivia Krieger 2; Olivia Nazar 2; Raegan Emonds 2; Ella Turner 1.
For the Dundas Valley Gryphons: Julia Sylvester 11; Taylor Cumming 11; Megan Spenlor 9; Jenna Button 5;
By the quarters: Dundas led 16-9 after one quarter, 23-19 at the half and 33-27 after three quarters.
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