The St. Basil Saints and St. Mary's Knights had a reason to celebrate on Saturday night after each school won a city basketball championship.
The Saints, who have yet to lose a game locally, turned in a solid defensive effort to defeat the Knights 39-24 in the senior division while the Knights handled the Saints 44-31 in junior at the High School Girls Basketball League City Championships held at Korah.
All four teams will head to the Northern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (NOSSA) championships next weekend. With spots open in both the AAA and AA playdowns, it has yet to be officially determined where each team will play although the senior Saints confirmed on Saturday night they will play in the AA championships which would slot St. Mary's into the AAA championships.
The AAA playdowns will be held here locally next Friday and Saturday while the AA playdowns will be staged in North Bay.
In the senior contest, the Saints won their second consecutive city championship 39-24 with a tough defense that gave the Knights few offensive opportunities.
Rachel Cobean scored eight points to lead the Saints while Lara Stilin and Dana Ferguson added seven each. Jessica Sicoly and Jennifer Sweezy scored eight each to lead the Knights.
With both teams engaged in a defensive struggle through the first half, St. Basil found their offensive game in the third quarter outscoring the Knights 11-4 in the frame to take a 30-16 lead.
"I think we were able to wear them down with our defense," said Saints head coach Ed Green.
"We applied tough pressure on defense and it eventually wore them down and we were able to take control of the game. Everyone we put on the court played good defense so we were able to use our bench and get everyone in there."
St. Mary's coach Jessica Merlino was very happy with the way the Knights responded and felt that her team competed hard but were unable to crack the Saints defense.
"I very proud with the way we played. We weren't even expected to make it this far but we played with a lot of heart and determination and that is all I expected from our team," said Merlino.
"Their defense was phenomenal. Their guards were fantastic on (defense) and we struggled with that. We ran into foul trouble with three of our starters and that hurt us as well. But you can't take anything from St. Basil."
In junior, the St. Mary's Knights used a strong effort on offense and defense to beat the Saints 44-31.
Kira Favaro led the Knights with 17 points while Kathleen Thorburn added 14. Adrianna Bruni replied with 10 and Amanda Vernelli eight for the Saints.
After St. Mary's stretched a 19-11 halftime lead into a 30-16 advantage after the third quarter, St. Basil mounted a comeback and pulled to within six points with time winding down.
With the Saints forced to send St. Mary's to the free throw line late in game in an attempt to regain possession, the Knights calmly responded by sinking several timely foul shots to seal the win.
"In practise, we shoot a ton of free throws. We had our best shooters out there at the end and they made the clutch shots," said Knights coach Anthony D'Ettorre.
D'Ettorre was ecstatic with his team's play in the final and felt that his team was hungry for a win.
"Our offense was on, our defense was on and the girls were moving the ball extremely well. We were able to hit some key shots when we had to and we were able run and control our offense well," said D'Ettorre.
"I don't want to take anything away from St. Basil because they are a good team but I think we might have been a little hungrier for the win."
Saints skipper Jim Pedatella praised St. Mary's for the win but felt that his team missed too many opportunities to score.
"St. Mary's shot well from the perimeter and from the free throw line and we did not. We weren't able to put the ball in the basket and it's as simple as that," said Pedatella.
*** REFEREE'S AWARD:
St. Basil's Heidi Jaaskelainen was presented with the Referees Award, which is given to the senior division player best combining sportsmanship with ability.
Other nominees for the annual award included Bawating's Kristen Timusk, Korah's Katrina Huopalainen, Mount St. Joseph's Heather Lewis, Sir James Dunn's Janine Olthius, St. Mary's Jessica Sicoly and White Pines' Crystal Eisler.