Cyclone brewing up hoops storm

It has been an impressive two weeks for the E.L. Crossley senior girls team basketball team.

The Fonthill high school followed up a close loss in the semifinals at the First BPSN Girls Basketball Tournament, formerly the Standard tournament, by winning the Niagara College Girls Hoops Classic, formerly the Tribune tournament. In the previous 15 years, Crossley had never made the final of the Tribune tournament before winning it Saturday with a 58-51 triumph over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

“It feels absolutely amazing, especially having it happen in my last year,” tournament MVP Sydney Grummett said.

Grummett and co-captain and fellow Grade 12 student, Tess Puchalski, are enjoying their final year of high school hoops together. The pair has been playing club and school ball together since Grade 2, winning District School Board of Niagara, Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association and Basketball Ontario Division 1 titles along the way.

“We have been together for so long and it’s always nice to be together on the court,” Grummett said. “I always tell Tess that she is my hype man on the floor.”

Puchalski likes that title.

“Whenever I see Sydney make a great play, an and one (basket and foul shot) or cross a chick up, I will start jumping up and down and I look for her to give her high fives to put emphasis on her small victories,” she said.

When the buzzer sounds at the end of the Notre Dame tournament, the two celebrated with a big hug.

“Honestly, it was a personal victory for the both of us,” Grummett said. “It’s our last year, we are the only two seniors and as co-captains it’s nice to get that after four years.”

It was a moment Puchalski won’t soon forget.

“As soon as that final buzzer sounded, Sydney and I just embraced because this has been what we have been working for for the last four years.

“It is the highlight of my high school career so far.”

The two seem to have an uncanny sense of where each other is on the floor.

“It’s kind of weird. It is almost like twin telepathy,” Grummett said. “We have this court awareness for each other and we find each other in positions you would never think to find someone on the court.”

Puchalski agrees with that assessment.

“Sydney and I have always been connected and it’s our bonds on and off the floor that makes those connections.”

Crossley head coach Aaron Belding loves what his two seniors bring to the court.

“There is stability with them,” he said. “They calm things down for the younger Grade 9 and 10 players, they are able to handle the pressure and they have been shouldering more of the pressure to allow younger players to come out and just play.”

Each provides a different element to the team.

“It’s apples and oranges,” Belding said. “You have one out there trying to help everyone out with quiet leadership and you have the other out there who is trying to be the mentor, leader and demonstrate on the floor.

“We need both of them because people respond differently to different types of leadership.”

Although somewhat exhausted from coaching so many games in so few days, Belding has enjoyed the ride his team has been on.

“The two weeks for the girls have been fantastic,” he said. “We have had a lot of good competition, we have worked on a lot of things and improved on a lot of things.”

Belding has seen growth in his squad over that period.

“The girls have responded well and the skill level and the intensity have improved,” he said. “And from the team conversations you are hearing over there (at the end of practice), even team bonding has improved.”

It’s no accident that Crossley has decided to host the SOSSA AA championships this fall.

“We looked at the girls we had last year and potentially what was coming up and we thought it should be a good chance for us,” Belding said. “We were expecting our varsity team last year would be our senior team this year. Even based on that team, we thought we would do well, not to mention the Grade 9s that bolstered the roster.”

Crossley’s roster boasts four Grade 9s and three Grade 10s and most have already become key contributors to the team.

“When you looked at the Trib (Niagara College Classic) program, most of the teams have eight or nine players and then you look at us we have 14,” Belding said. “And it’s not like there is a big gap in our skill level.

“I don’t want to be boastful or anything like that, but our second-string players coming off our bench are first stringers at a lot of different schools.”

The team’s depth is a bit of a double-edged sword because it is hard for Belding to get everyone the minutes they deserve.

“It’s a difficult one because they are all good,” he said. “One game you may be hot and next game maybe you are not. I am trying to play them, find out who is on the hot streak and ride the hot streak when we have it.

“We are doing our best to get everyone on the floor and juggle the time while still being successful.”

The squad’s strong play in 2019 is likely the start of a long run of success for Crossley, given the calibre of Grade 9s and 10s on the team, plus the players who are on their way to Crossley in the next few years.

“When you are looking at what is coming through, this should be the beginning of a nice run, however, I try not to look that far ahead because things change,” Belding said.

Many of the girls who have already arrived or are arriving shortly are the products of a strong Pelham Panthers minor basketball association.

“A lot of the girls we have now have played up through the ranks of the Pelham Panthers and it’s nice our local community organization is developing them,” Belding said.

Last year, the Cyclone won the overall Zone 3 AA title before losing a close game in the SOSSA semifinals to the eventual provincial silver medalists.

Grummett feels Crossley had the pieces to hopefully get over the SOSSA hump this year.

“We should always strive to get there and this year we are physically capable of doing it,” she said. “It’s the group of girls we have. We connect well on and off the floor and it helps us flow really well during games.”

Puchalski would love to go to OFSAA in her final year of high school.

“I have been hoping to go to OFSAA every since I have been playing senior,” she said. “With this team, we definitely could go to SOSSA and even farther than that.”

But it won’t be easy in Niagara.

“We have a few obstacles in our way,” Puchalski said.

Members of the Hoops Classic championship team, coached by Aaron Belding, Jordan Lew, Kyle Hingley and Keveshan Padachey, were Mackenna Belding, Kaitlyn Brophy, Jenna Dobbie, Grummett, Emma Kulik, Martha Liro, Leah McIntee, Taryn Mitchell, Julia Moldenhauer, Allison O’Connor, Sydney Piekny, Puchalski, Grace Sodtke and Jordan Wilton.