SOSSA basketball roundup: Blue Bears heading to OFSAA
The Port Colborne Blue Bears are the lone Niagara senior girls basketball team to qualify for the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships. Submitted photo.
The Port Colborne Blue Bears have punched their ticket to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations senior girls A basketball championship next Thursday to Saturday in North Bay.
Playing Thursday in Dunnville at the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association A championships in Dunnville, the Blue Bears opened with a 51-34 triumph over Zone 1 champion Hamilton District Christian and then advanced to OFSAA with a close 43-39 triumph over the Zone 4 champion Smithville District Christian Storm.
Port Colborne is the only Niagara girls basketball team advancing to the OFSAA championships.
At the AA championships at Sir Winston Churchill, the E.L. Crossley Cyclones lost in the semifinals and the host Bulldogs lost in the finals. At the AAA championships at Westdale in Hamilton, A.N. Myer lost in the semifinals and Blessed Trinity lost in the final to Westdale.
“We are looking forward to seeing some great competition, because OFSAA always brings out the best from around the province, having the girls see some of the other teams from around Ontario and the different styles of basketball that are out there,” Port Colborne head coach Barclay Walker said.
The last time Port Colborne went to OFSAA was 2013 and, that year, the Blue Bears returned home with a record of 3-2.
Walker began to think he had a team that might be OFSAA-bound about mid-season and after the Tribune tournament.
“We were having some success playing some of the bigger schools and we were having close games against E.L. Crossley, Centennial and A.N. Myer,” he said. “When you are having close games with the double A and triple A schools, there is a possibility you might do well at single A.”
Port Colborne went 2-8 in Niagara Region High School Athletic Association regular season play, competing against A, AA and AAA schools. During the season, the Blue Bears lost 43-27 and 40-38 to Jean Vanier, the only other A school in Zone 3, but shocked the Lynx 46-31 in the Zone 3 A championship game.
Leading scorers for Port against Jean Vanier were Jacobi Oskam (13), Jordyn Goins (12), Maddie Coleman (10) and Jennifer Kozelj (8). Leading the way for Vanier were Isabelle Sinclair (11), Corrynn Parker (8), Jenna Vandenbosch (5) and Ariel Wendling (3).
“I think it was the girls’ determination,” Walker said, in explaining the win over Vanier. “We knew from past experience that we were going to have some close games with Jean Vanier.
“I think the first time we played them when they beat us by 16, that was a bit of a wakeup call and the next time when we lost to them by two, we knew that they were within our grasp.”
He describes his team as gritty and aggressive.
“When we are out there attacking and chasing the basketball, that when we really do well.”
This is the peak of the building cycle for the Port Colborne senior team and the squad will be in a rebuilding phase next year.
“When you look at our roster, the majority of our players are in Grade 12 and we only have three Grade 11s on the team,” Walker said. “We will lose that experience.”
The key returning piece is post player Coleman, a member of the Niagara Rangers under-19 travel team.
Walker is hoping his squad can put together a .500 record or better at OFSAA.
“Obviously being in a medal game would be nice, but I am hoping we do as best as we can,” Walker said. “If we come away with a winning record of any sort, I would be very happy.”
Top scorers for Port Colborne in the win over Hamilton District Christian were Coleman (16), Oskam (11), Sydney Vrbanac (11), Goins (6) and Kozelj (6).
Leading the way for the Blue Bears against Smithville Christian in the SOSSA final were Coleman (12), Goins (10), Kozelj (8), Oskam (7) and Reagan Grano (6). Top scorers for Smithville Christian were Terin Hultink (12), Julia Thies (11) and Esther Dehaan (6).
WARRIORS 73 MARAUDERS 60
Another spectacular effort by Tori Rigas-DiDomenico wasn’t enough as the A.N. Myer Marauders senior girls basketball team dropped a 73-60 decision Thursday to the host Westdale Warriors in the SOSSA semifinals.
The Niagara JUEL player scored a game-high 33 points as the Warriors built a first-quarter lead of 21-18 before Myer tied it up 36-36 at the half. The Warriors outscored the Marauders 22-12 in the third quarter on the way to victory.
Also scoring for the Marauders were Molly Taylor (9), Vienna Vercesi (6), Emily Braun (5), Jorja Allen (5), Naomi Shad (2) and Ava Collee (1).
THUNDER LOSE IN AAA FINAL
The Blessed Trinity Thunder opened the SOSSA AAA championships in Westdale with a 65-39 victory over Saltfleet before losing 59-51 to Westdale in the championship.
All 12 BT players hit the scoresheet in the win over Saltfleet. Top scorers were Maddie O’Brien and Mia DisPasquale with 18 points each, Leading the way for Blessed Trinity against Westdale were DisPasquale (16), O’Brien (14) and Makayla Giddings (10).
Thunder head coach John DisPasquale was pleased with how his team bounced back from a poor performance Monday in the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association final against Notre Dame.
“We had two practices and spent a lot of time goal-setting and talking about our roles,” he said. “The girls really bounced back and when the final horn went, I was full of emotions.”
DisPasquale called a timeout and put his five graduating seniors on the floor. The five seniors are Mia DisPasquale, Kayla Staios, Olivia Gaspich, Olivia Ianotta and Giddings.
“Those girls played senior for three years and kind of held the fort,” John DisPasquale said. “They’ve been successful and they kind of kept the team on the map.”
Blessed Trinity will have a strong core of returning players next year, including Grade 9 standout Kaelin Suitor, who played well in the SOSSA final.
“We tried to play people equal minutes throughout the season but once we got into the money games, we shortened the bench at times,” he said. “The experience of being there and seeing the competition is priceless.”
The Thunder and DiPasquale take basketball seriously.
“We started in August and we went every single day for at least 90 minutes and I had 13 kids at every practice,” DiPasquale said.
