Cougars bring home bronze
The Centennial Cougars emptied their tanks in an effort to bring home a medal from the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) senior girls AA basketball playdowns.
The Cougars were running on fumes but managed to dig down deep and come away with a bronze medal, defeating the Lo-Ellen Park Knights of Sudbury 53-34 at Saint Paul Saturday afternoon in the third-place game.
Following the final buzzer, the Cougars received their medals, many of them with tears in their eyes, overcome with emotion.
“(I’m) as proud as could be,” Cougars head coach Craig Maltais said. “Coach (Kelly) Spiers and I are just so thrilled for them. They worked super hard and legitimately left everything on the floor. Every girl is really beat up but they played through it.
“Timeouts were tough, they would get their ice packs out and then go back out. They were absolute Warriors.”
The Cougars dropped a 72-51 decision to No.1-ranked Frontenac of Kingston earlier Saturday in the semifinals.
The team then had to shake off that disappointment and refocus on the bronze.
“It was tough,” Maltais said. “We were in that game for a while but we were physically exhausted. We rested up in between games and we knew this was the end, win or lose, and we played super-hard, offensively and defensively.
“We kept each other up, everyone on the bench was keeping spirits high and that really helped them to come and do what we did.”
Alexis Wright, who paced the Cougars in the final with 18 after pouring in 30 points in the morning game, said the team wanted to go out on top.
“It was definitely a lot,” she said. “Before every game, everyone was giving out energy for each other. This is our last run together because the majority of the team is seniors so we just left it all out there.
“We wanted to be bronze medalists. We knew we had to win that final game to get a medal so it was our final push for each other.”
Guard Jayda Rodrigue agreed.
“I was really happy, especially because most of us are graduating and we got to win as a team,” she said. “We were really tired but we all wanted to win a medal and end on a good note for our senior year.”
Wright said she couldn’t even begin to count the injuries.
“(We’re) pretty beat up,” she said. “Every single person has some sort of injury or something going on but we worked through it and that’s what a good team does.”
Rodrigue paused for a moment when asked what she will miss most about the squad.
“Everything,” she said. “Everyone brings something different and I love everything about all of them.”
The Cougars jumped out to an early 12-6 after one and then built leads of 27-13 at the half and 39-23 after three quarters.
SEMIFINAL
Frontenac 72 Cougars 51
The Cougars fell behind 19-7 after one quarter and then trailed 40-30 at the half and 53-45 after three quarters versus Frontenac of Kingston.
Wright paced Centennial with 30 points while Jenna Dobbie added 12 and Rodrigue five.
STATS PACK
Cougars 53 Knights 34
Cat’s Caboose Stars of the Game: Centennial’s Alexis Wright and Jayda Rodrigue.
Lo-Ellen Park Knights: Maike Pardon 10; Sidney Skrobot 8.
Centennial Cougars: Alexis Wright 18; Jayda Rodrigue 16; Emma Smith 10; Jenna Dobbie 5; Jessica Gibson 2; Audrey Bevacqua 2.
By the quarter: Centennial led 12-6 after one, 27-13 at the half and 39-23 after three quarters.
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