By Martin Cleary
One moment, they’re playing together as an elite regional youth basketball team, working together towards common goals.
The next moment, they’re wearing opposing uniforms, representing different teams and ready to go head-to-head in the greatest game of their high school careers.
That’s exactly what happened Saturday in the all-Eastern-Ontario, gold-medal game at the OFSAA girls’ A basketball championship inside the warm and loud confines of Nicholson Catholic College in Belleville.
When the starting players from both teams walked onto the court for the OFSAA championship game, it was somewhat relaxing, awkward and humorous, all at once, for four players on each of the Osgoode Township High School of Metcalfe and Académie catholique Ange-Gabriel of Brockville teams.
For the past three months, Charley Toivonen, Teagan Kleinherenbrink, Keira Lusk and Emily Harvey of Osgoode and Isabelle Carson, Isabelle Guenette, Camryn Stefura and Emily Carrière of Ange-Gabriel have been practising as teammates with the St. Lawrence Lightning of the JUEL Prep girls’ basketball league.
“It made for a fun atmosphere as everyone knew each other,” Osgoode head coach Aaron Harvey said in a phone interview.
For two hours on Saturday, they were respectful opponents and the backbones of the two strongest teams in the OFSAA girls’ A championship tournament.
Osgoode, which had lost the St. Mary’s tournament final earlier this year to Ange-Gabriel, played its trademark, tight defence and had a fluctuating offence to post a 44-30 victory for the school’s first-ever OFSAA basketball championship.
It was also only the second time in the school’s 70-year history it has ever won an OFSAA team championship. At the 1988 OFSAA boys’ curling championship in Welland, Osgoode Township under coach Jack Armstrong won the gold medal.
After a tight opening quarter, Osgoode pushed its 8-4 lead to 25-7 at halftime. But Ange-Gabriel pushed back in the third quarter to narrow the gap to 31-19. Osgoode outscored Ange-Gabriel 13-11 to solidify its best-ever basketball triumph.
The Osgoode Panthers are smaller than most high school girls’ teams and eight of the 10 players in the varsity program are considered junior-aged (Grades 9-10). But their tenacity, quickness and constant pressure defence continually pushes them to new heights.
The Panthers were undefeated in the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association regular season, overlap and playoff games at 11-0. They won the city championship as an A-population school (under 500 students) with a roster that could be considered all guards.
“They are a special group of girls,” Harvey said, reflecting on his team’s ultimate accomplishments. “It was exciting, nice to see them get the gold because they’re a really solid team that met their potential.
“It’s their work ethic. They work hard. The players worked hard all season and peaked at the right time. They played their best at OFSAA.”
The Panthers, who finished their season at 21-2 with their only two losses coming in out-of-town tournament championship games, surrendered only a handful of points in the first quarter of each of their five OFSAA games, proving they were ready to play.
In the semifinals, Osgoode trailed Woodland Christian of Breslau 10-5 after the first quarter and 17-12 at halftime as the Panthers couldn’t convert their shots. But it was the reverse in the second half as Osgoode outscored Woodland 34-20, which triggered a 46-37 championship win.
The Panthers were in total control of their first three games, defeating O’Gorman of Timmins 70-46 in the quarterfinals, and L’Horizon of Val Caron 55-17 and Elmvale District 62-30 in the first two preliminary rounds.
“Once we started our playoffs, we had a magical NCSSAA run against John McCrae, Mother Teresa and Earl of March,” added Harvey, who coached the team with assistant Jenny Rodgers. “We played our best. We were peaking at the right time. The girls put their foot on the gas and continued to dominate on defence right to OFSAA.
“We had a full-court, man-to-man press the entire weekend. We pressed in the semifinals and final for 32 minutes. We didn’t stop. We’re lucky our athletes are well conditioned and want to be aggressive. I asked them a couple of times if they wanted to go half-court press, but they said no.”
Harvey expects to have nine players return for the 2024 season as his daughter Kaitlyn Harvey is the only graduating senior.
“They’re conditioned,” Aaron Harvey said about his team’s drive to apply non-stop pressure on defence and employ a running offence. “They’re super competitive and have a will to win. They play hard and they play hard for each other.
“They’re great kids. They work hard for the wins. They’re ready to battle. We don’t rely on two to three players to do it all. We play our players lots and together they contribute. When everyone shares the load, it’s not too much burden to shoulder.”
In the fall of 2021 as the city was coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Osgoode decided to restart its girls’ basketball program, but there was a problem. There was no coach.
Kaitlyn Harvey, who had already missed her Grade 9 basketball season in 2020 because of the pandemic, asked her dad if he would coach the team. It made sense as he was already a teacher in the Ottawa-Carleton District School board and had 20 years basketball coaching experience at the school and club levels.
And it’s hard to say no to a daughter’s request.
After a 2-4, no-playoff season in 2021, the Panthers had an influx of Grade 9 players with club experience. They reached the overall NCSSAA championship final and lost, but went to the OFSAA girls’ A championship and reached the quarterfinals, losing by two points.
“I’ve known all the kids and some I’ve coached since they were little,” explained Harvey, who also coaches his younger daughter, Emily, a Grade 9 student-athlete, on the Panthers. “I’ve seen them grow up through the basketball system.
“We’ve also had good family time. It’s special to be here coaching and doing it with my two daughters.”
This weekend, four starters from Osgoode and four starters from Ange-Gabriel will meet again. But this time, they will be members of the St. Lawrence Lightning, who open their JUEL Prep season with three games in Mississauga.
Arnprior District loses starter, drops first game of season in OFSAA AA final
Meanwhile at the OFSAA girls’ AA basketball championship in Guelph, the Arnprior District Rapids had the misfortune of losing their only game of the season in the gold-medal game.
When the Rapids reached their provincial high school final, they were 32-0. The Rapids had an excellent season – winning their first Eastern Ontario Secondary School Athletic Association girls’ senior title, after being the finalist every year since 2012, capturing four tournaments and reaching the OFSAA championship, after winning the bronze medal in 2022.
They advanced to the OFSAA final by sweeping their first four games by an average of 28 points a game. But the final proved to be a different story, but not right away.
Arnprior District led 15-14 over King’s Christian in Oakville after the first quarter and 31-27 at halftime. The Rapids stretched the lead to 10 points midway through the third quarter before everything went negative.
King’s Christian dominated the second half, outscoring Arnprior 42-21 for a final decision of 69-53.
“We had a great season at 32-0. But, unfortunately, in the last two minutes of our semifinal we lost starter Mika Clifford with a serious injury,” said head coach Phil Moore, who shares the coaching duties with Chris Spratt, the former Almonte District High School teacher-football coach.
“We were down a player and emotionally it affected our players. The girls were upset.”
In the final, the Rapids missed the strength and leadership of Clifford, couldn’t stop the offensive presence of King’s Christian point guard Sophie Munn (35 points), and Anna Hirst fouled out with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
“We couldn’t weather the storm,” Moore added.
Camryn Buffam led the Rapids with 18 points, while Naomi Daley contributed 13 points.
The Rapids’ 14-player roster also included three grandchildren of Spratt – Clifford, Aayla Spratt and Molly Sheldrick.
Béatrice-Desloges, the NCSSAA rep, reached the OFSAA girls’ AA consolation semifinals before losing to E.L. Crossley of Fonthill 49-36. Alexia Schryburt paced B-D with 21 points, which was her average for four tournament games.
At the OFSAA girls’ AAA basketball championship in Hamilton, St. Mother Teresa split its first two games and dropped into the consolation round, where it defeated Eastview of Barrie 47-37. Mother Teresa lost in the semifinals.
In Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association action, Capital Courts Academy dropped its first game of the season in a battle for first place with Crestwood Prep. CCA fell 76-71 to the reigning OSBA champs in a Sunday contest at Cairine Wilson Secondary School. CCA is now 4-1 while Crestwood remains unbeaten at 5-0.
The NCSSAA sent four teams to the OFSAA boys’ volleyball championships and Béatrice-Desloges came home with the AA silver medal, while Franco-Cité earned the AAA bronze.
Béatrice-Desloges, the second seed, lost to top-seeded LaSalle in a grinding five-game match – 17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 15-12. After going undefeated in four preliminary pool matches, B-D defeated Sir Winston Churchill of Hamilton 3-0 in the quarterfinals and Silverthorn of Toronto 3-0 in the semifinals.
The NCSSAA’s Garneau was 2-2 in pool play, but lost its consolation quarterfinal 3-0 to Hammarskjord of Thunder Bay.
Franco-Cité defeated Ursuline College of Chatham 25-16, 25-18, 25-23 to collect the AAA bronze medal. Oakville’s Garth Webb outlasted Franco-Cité in the semifinals 25-21, 25-22, 19-25, 22-25, 15-12.
The preliminary-pool round saw Franco-Cité win eight games without a loss and hold off Upper Canada College of Toronto in the quarterfinals – 17-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-16, 15-6.
Notre Dame posted a 2-2 preliminary-pool record at the OFSAA boys’ A volleyball championship in Kitchener and dropped to the consolation round, where it lost 3-2 to Académie catholique Mère-Teresa of Hamilton in the quarterfinals.
GEE-GEES, RAVENS JUST KEEP WINNING ON BASKETBALL COURT
The top-ranked University of Ottawa Gee-Gees had a successful Northern Ontario swing, defeating Nipissing University Lakers 97-69 and Laurentian Voyageurs 84-59 in OUA men’s basketball.
Jacques-Melandie Guemeta had a standout game for the 7-0 Gee-Gees against the Lakers with 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Kevin Otoo led Ottawa with 17 points against the Voyageurs. Justin Ndjock-Tadjore notched 16 points in each game.
Defending national champion Carleton University Ravens moved into a three-way tie for second place in the East Conference at 5-2 by defeating Laurentian 80-73 and Nipissing 87-58.
Aubrey Dorey-Havens sparked the Ravens against the Voyageurs with 21 points, and Xavier Spencer was Carleton’s best in the Nipissing game with 22 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals. Noah Horobetz Simpson had a combined weekend performance of 37 points and 18 rebounds.
In women’s OUA basketball, Carleton remained undefeated at 7-0 with one-sided wins over Laurentian 76-44 and Nipissing 81-57.
Kali Pocrnic was the leading scorer for Carleton in both games at 13 points against Laurentian and 19 points against Nipissing. Tatyanna Burke recorded 13 points and nine rebounds against Laurentian and 16 points and five rebounds against Nipissing.
In the Nipissing game, double-double efforts were delivered by Jacqueline Urban, 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Kyana-Jade Poulin, 11 points and 10 rebounds. Poulin narrowly missed a triple-double as she also had eight assists.
Second-place University of Ottawa, 6-1, rolled over Nipissing 73-48 and Laurentian 71-57.
Natsuki Szczokin was the Gee-Gees’ offensive leader with 16 points against Nipissing and 23 points against Laurentian. Ariane Saumure also had a well-rounded game against Laurentian with 17 points, seven steals, five rebounds and two assists.
KIERAN FLANNERY-FLECK BOOTED NINE POINTS FOR UBC THUNDERBIRDS
Ottawa’s Kieran Flannery-Fleck supplied all the points for the University of British Columbia as the Thunderbirds fell 16-9 to the Université de Montréal Carabins in the Vanier Cup U Sports national football final in Kingston.
Flannery-Fleck kicked three field goals from 32 and 41 yards in the second quarter and 23 yards in the fourth quarter.
UBC running back Isaiah Knight of Ottawa rushed for 73 yards on 15 carries and caught two passes for 23 yards.
LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST
· The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees earned the silver medal at the OUA men’s water polo championship at the Nepean Sportsplex pool, losing the final 19-6 to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, which won their 36th provincial title. Brothers Diego and Daniel Gonzalez Delgado of Ottawa played for Toronto.
· Arizona Cardinals’ linebacker Jesse Luketa of Ottawa was driving to his home NFL game Sunday, when his car had a flat tire. He rolled down his window, called out to a family wearing Cardinals’ gear and asked for help, introducing himself as a player needing to get to the State Farm Stadium. The family obliged and he reached the stadium on time. “Beyond grateful for them,” Luketa said on Twitter. “I need some help getting their contact information, would love to provide them with tickets to our next home game.”
· Ottawa’s John Nguyen, an advanced development coach with the Maverick Volleyball Club, helped Canada to the bronze medal at the inaugural NORCECA girls’ U17 volleyball championship in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Canada defeated the Dominican Republic 28-30, 28-26, 25-23, 28-26 to finish in third place and earn a berth in the 2024 FIVB world championship.
· Huntley Curling Club’s Katrina Frlan defeated Lyra Erhardt of Manotick Curling 11-3 at the Metcalfe Curling Club to qualify for the Ontario Winter Games Feb. 23-26 in Thunder Bay.
· Lindsay Thorne of the Rideau Curling Club earned the silver medal at the Everest Women’s Canadian Curling Club Championship in Winnipeg, after losing the final to Abby Burgess of Oromocto, New Brunswick. Thorne led 3-2 after three ends, but tied the match 5-5 after five ends and 7-7 after seven before Burgess used the hammer to score the decisive one point for the gold medal.
· University of Ottawa defensive back Eric Cumberbatch and University of Saskatchewan corner back Katley Joseph of Ottawa were named to the U Sports football 1st All-Canadian team. The 2nd All-Canadian team included Ottawa’s Amlicar Polk, running back, and Max Charbonneau, linebacker; and Carleton University’s Kaseem Ferdinand, receiver, and Louis Lavaud, corner back.
· Valérie Grenier of St-Isidore, ON., placed fifth in the World Cup women’s giant slalom at Killington, Vermont, giving her a fourth consecutive top-seven finish, going back to the 2022-23 season.
· Nakkertok Ski Club’s Katherine Stewart-Jones of Chelsea, PQ., was a photo-finish 21st in the women’s 20-kilometre mass start on the opening weekend of the World Cup cross-country skiing season in Ruka, Finland. Gatineau’s Antoine Cyr of Skinouk was 24th in the men’s sprint.
Martin Cleary has written about amateur sports for over 52 years. A past Canadian sportswriter of the year and Ottawa Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement in Sport Media honouree, Martin retired from full-time work at the Ottawa Citizen in 2012, but continued to write a bi-weekly “High Achievers” column for the Citizen/Sun.
When the pandemic struck, Martin created the High Achievers “Stay-Safe Edition” to provide some positive news during tough times, via his Twitter account at first and now here at OttawaSportsPages.ca.
Martin can be reached by e-mail at martincleary51@gmail.com and on Twitter @martincleary.