HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Osgoode Township Panthers repeat bronze medallists at OFSAA girls’ A basketball

By Martin Cleary

For the past four seasons, the OFSAA girls’ A basketball championship has brought out the best in the Osgoode Township High School Panthers.

After reaching the quarterfinals in 2022 and being one of the province’s top eight teams for high schools with a student population under 500, the Panthers have emerged as medal winners in each of their last three OFSAA appearances.

The Panthers have amassed a remarkable record of 15 wins and only three losses at OFSAA since 2022, which has allowed them to win the gold medal in 2023 in Belleville and bronze medals in 2024 and 2025 in Kitchener and Brockville respectively.

Osgoode Township opened the 2025 OFSAA girls’ A championship in Brockville last week with a statement that it was seeking a third medal in a row with wins over Red Lake, 56-24; St. Mary’s, 46-27; and St-Trinite, 54-31, (quarter-final round).

Head coach Aaron Harvey knew the semifinal would be a Herculean task as the Panthers would face top seed and defending champion Woodland Christian, which was on a run of dominant victories of its own. Woodland outscored Osgoode Township 22-2 in the first quarter and 15-3 in the fourth quarters to finish with a 60-26 win.

In the bronze-medal game, Osgoode Township fared better with another difficult, but familiar opponent, when it turned back Ange Gabriel of Brockville 59-46. Woodland, which is in Breslau, ran past Nouvelle Alliance of Barrie 73-29 in the gold-medal final.

Winning a third medal in as many years was the high point of the Panthers’ three-month season.

“They were so excited,” Harvey wrote in an email interview. “We have three senior girls (Brooke Swanson, Keira Lusk and Alexandra Linden) who were playing their final games for OTHS. We wanted them to finish with a win.

“We also were playing close to home so we had great crowd support. The gym was packed and loud – it was an amazing atmosphere.”

Osgoode Township lost to Ange Gabriel earlier this season and knew the bronze-medal match would be a tough challenge.

“They are a solid team with several JUEL (Junior Elite provincial basketball league) players,” Harvey added. “They are well coached. I knew we needed to defend at a high level (to) make them work for everything.

“They have good guard play, so we stayed in our half-court, man-to-man defence. We didn’t want to give them anything easy from breaking our press. On offence, we went to matchups we liked and encouraged those players to be aggressive. Our girls played very smart.”

Anne McLaren was the Panthers’ top scorer with 24 points in the third-place game. She also was the leading scorer in the preliminary-pool win over St. Mary’s with 14 points, which was matched by teammate Keira Lusk, who will attend Loyalist College in 2026-27.

Harvey spent several weeks devising a plan to counter the Woodland attack, if the two schools met in the playoffs. It worked to a degree, but the Woodland team, which was stronger than last year, scored in transition off steals and rebounds.

“Our plan was to pick up the ball early in transition to engage the dribbler so that they would not see as many transition passes,” Harvey explained. “We also needed to try to take away their pic-n-roll action between their top two players – Nina Erak and Bree Droust. We did okay with that.

“However, at the beginning of the game, nerves got to us and we missed easy shots and they made several contested three-pointers in the opening minutes. The game got away from us quickly. We found our footing and stuck to our game plan and played well for the next three quarters, but the damage was done. They were a formidable team.”

Lusk was the Panthers’ top scorer in the semifinal with 10 points. Emily Harvey led the Osgoode Township scorers in the preliminary games against Red Lake and St-Trinite with 23 and 17 points respectively.

“I thought we had a chance to (win a) medal, but we were going to have to play our very best to do so. We had Woodland Christian … on our side of the bracket. I knew that was going to be a tough semifinal matchup for us. I figured bronze, at a minimum, was a realistic goal for our team,” Aaron Harvey continued.

At the OFSAA girls’ AAA basketball championship in Sarnia, South Carleton Storm lost its first two games but won all three of its playoff games on the consolation side to earn that tournament honour.

After losing to St. Patrick’s 47-22 and A.B. Lucas 47-38, the Storm turned back Korah 49-14, Notre Dame 46-32 and Lawrence Park 56-51 in the consolation final.

St. Mark Lions posted a 2-2 overall record at the OFSAA girls’ AA basketball championship in Belleville and reached the consolation semifinal, losing to Tecumseh 58-38. In its earlier games, the Lions defeated St. Ignatius 44-31, lost to St. Mother Teresa 51-38 and defeated King City 58-38.

WOLVES, REBELLES BOW OUT IN QUARTERS OF HOME OFSAA BOYS’ VOLLEYBALL

At the OFSAA boys’ AAA volleyball championship, which was staged by West Carleton Secondary School, the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association representatives – champion West Carleton Wolves and Louis-Riel Rebelles – were eliminated in contrasting manners in the quarterfinals.

The host Wolves were defeated by Eden, which has a career 12 OFSAA boys’ volleyball titles, 30-28, 25-15, 25-17, while Riel went the distance in the best-of-five quarterfinal before losing to St. Benedict 25-23, 10-25, 24-26, 25-21, 15-13.

West Carleton trailed throughout the first set, but gradually pulled even to push the game beyond the 25-point mark. The Wolves had four set points in the extended set, but were unable to convert one of those opportunities for a 1-0 advantage.

In the second set, the Wolves lost key starter Grayson Comeau with an injured left ankle, after he landed awkwardly following an unsuccessful spike.

“I was proud of the way we played (in the first set),” West Carleton head coach Mark Elliott said. “We fell behind at the start, but clawed our way back and went beyond 25 points. We showed we could be with them.

“Unfortunately, we lost one of our stronger players to injury (in the second set).”

Riel won its preliminary pool with a 3-1 record, while West Carleton was second in its pool at 3-1.

Top-seeded Uxbridge defeated No. 2 Eden 28-26, 25-20, 18-25, 25-19 in the gold-medal match and Bishop Reding downed St. Benedict 25-20, 25-21, 25-11 for the bronze medal.

Gisèle-Lalonde recorded a 2-2 preliminary pool record for a second-place finish and a berth in the OFSAA boys’ AA volleyball championship-round quarterfinals in Orillia. But Lalonde fell 25-10, 25-17, 25-16 to St. Mary’s in the quarters.

Samuel-Genest also had a pool record of 2-2, but lost a tiebreaker and was placed fourth. Genest lost its consolation-round quarterfinal 25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 29-27 to John Diefenbaker.

At the OFSAA boys’ A volleyball championship in Gravenhurst, Maurice-Lapointe lost all four preliminary-pool matches.

IVANIE BLONDIN SCORES WORLD CUP GOLD, SILVER MEDALS

Gloucester’s Ivanie Blondin saved her best for the last day of World Cup long-track speed skating at the Calgary Olympic Oval, when she won the mass start and placed second in the team pursuit with Ottawa’s Isabelle Weidemann and Valérie Maltais of La Baie, PQ.

Blondin placed first in the mass start in eight minutes, 8.48 seconds to shade The Netherlands’ Marijke Groenewoud, who was only 0.03 seconds behind the winner in second place.

“It felt pretty incredible,” Blondin said via Speed Skating Canada. “The crowd was insane today, and my parents were here as well. It’s most likely my last World Cup here at home, so I’m a little bit emotional. This result is what I wanted, especially after last week’s weird finish to the mass start.”

The Canadian team pursuit squad stopped in 2:52.58 for the silver medal and was only 0.16 seconds behind The Netherlands. Blondin also raced the mixed relay with Yankun Zhao, but the Canadian team was disqualified.

Earlier in the three-day World Cup meet, Blondin was eighth over 3,000 metres in 4:00.42 and 10th in the 1,500 metres in 1:53.79.

Weidemann had only one individual race in the A flight, placing fourth in the women’s 3,000 metres in 3:56.66.

Cedrick Brunet of Gatineau was 16th in the first 500-metre race in 34.63 seconds and 17th in the second 500-metre test in a quicker 34.47 seconds.

Jake Weidemann was 18th in the men’s mass start in 7:44.48.

LOCAL RINKS WIN GOLD, BRONZE AT CANADIAN CLUB CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Ottawa Valley Curling Association rinks captured gold and bronze medals respectively from the women’s and men’s draws at the Canadian club curling championships in Winnipeg.

Once former competitive curlers, Rideau Curling Club skip Lindsay Thorne, third Melissa Gannon, second Emily Kelly and lead Mychelle Zahab only play once a week now on Tuesday nights.

But when the Thorne rink gathered for the national club championship, the competitive fire was sparked, the team recorded a 9-2 win-loss record and it won the women’s gold medal.

Thorne scored one point in the eighth and final end to edge Miriam Perron of Trois-Rivières in the gold-medal game. Trailing 3-2 after five ends, Thorne marked four in the sixth end to regain the lead, which didn’t last long as Perron counted three in the seventh to deadlock the match at 6-6.

In the semifinals, Thorne edged Michelle Hartwell of Edmonton 4-3.

Despite the limited playing schedule, the Thorne rink curled extremely well in the six-day national championship.

“We only play Tuesday nights. We’re all ex-competitive players; we played in juniors,” Thorne was quoted in a Curling Canada news release. “It’s a lot of time and money right now to play competitively, so we just enjoy our Tuesday night curling.”

Thorne also was named the winner of the women’s most valuable player award.

On the men’s side, notable skip Bryan Cochrane of the Russell Curling Club joined sons Ryan at third and James at second, Paul Nooyen at lead and Pierre Harvey at alternate to earn the bronze medal.

Mitch Young of Cranbrook led his British Columbia rink to an 8-7 win over Cochrane in the semifinals. But Cochrane rebounded in the bronze-medal match with a 9-5 decision over Dennis Watts of Cornwall, P.E.I.

“It has been a thrill to play with my two sons. Win or lose, I don’t care. It has been fun,” said Cochrane, who has many honours on his resume, including winning the 2019 world men’s senior championship and representing Ontario and P.E.I. in the Brier in 2003 and 2020 respectively.

The Cochrane rink had an overall record of 7-3.

HOMAN STARTS OLYMPIC CURLING TRIALS 3-1

At the Canadian Olympic curling trials in Halifax, Rachel Homan and her team of Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes are putting on a dynamic show of offence, scoring 43 points in 35 ends during their first four matches.

Homan improved her record to 3-1 on Monday with a 12-5 victory over Selena Sturmay of Edmonton. The Ottawa Curling Club rink scored three in the first end, five in the third and two in the four to begin the charge to another win.

Earlier, Homan outscored Kate Cameron of St. Adolphe, MB, 16-5 and Christina Black of Halifax 8-2 before losing 8-7 in an extra end to Kayla Skrlik of Calgary.

Team Homan will have three more preliminary matches before the playoffs.

OUTAOUAIS PLAYERS HELP MONTRÉAL CARABINS WIN VANIER CUP

Five players from the Outaouais shared in the Université de Montréal Carabins’ 30-16 victory over the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in the 60th Vanier Cup football championship before only 8,896 fans in Regina.

Receiver Brandon Gourgon of Gatineau scored the Carabins’ first touchdown on a 41-yard pass-and-run play for an 11-3 lead. Gourgon, a fifth-year business management student-athlete, finished the game with two receptions for 49 yards.

Defensive lineman Gabriel Maisonneuve was named to the U Sports first all-Canadian team at end, after earning the same honour in the RSEQ conference. Maisonneuve is a fifth-year electrical engineering student-athlete.

The other three Western Quebec athletes on the Montréal team are receiver Simon Riopel of Gatineau, a masters student in aerospace engineering; defensive lineman Theo McElligott of Chelsea, home preparatory year; and kicker Fabien Perrin Larche of Maniwaki, a kinesiology student.

Defensive back Anesu Latmore, an All Saints High School grad, played for Saskatchewan and made one solo tackle and had three assisted tackles.

CARLETON SWEEPS OTTAWA IN OUA WOMEN’S, MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Carleton University Ravens and the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees played only one OUA women’s and men’s basketball game on the weekend and it was against each other.

The Ravens won both games by contrasting scores, which improved the women’s record to 7-1 for second place in the East Division and also strengthened the men’s record to 7-1 for first place in the East.

Abany Deng hit a free throw with eight seconds left in the game to give Carleton a 64-63 decision over Ottawa. Both teams were led by their star players.

Kyana-Jade Poulin had 22 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals to lead the Ravens, while teammate Jacqueline Urban notched 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Allie McCarthy posted a double-double of 25 points and 12 rebounds as well as six assists, while Bailey Russell contributed 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Marjok Okado was the top scorer for the Carleton men’s team with 25 points and four rebounds, while Cedric Mbiaba had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Emanuel Ngo Kana Suzama and Louth-Mohamed Coulibaly each had 10 rebounds and the latter player added 10 points.

Owen Kenney scored 14 points for the Gee-Gees, and Alec Phaneuf and Brock Newton each had 12-point games. The Gee-Gees are in second place in the East Division at 5-3.

In the 15-team OUA women’s volleyball league, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees are in a three-way tie for third place at 6-2.

On the weekend, the Gee-Gees split a pair of road matches against the Toronto Metropolitan University Bold, winning the opener 17-25, 26-24, 26-24, 25-16, but losing the second match 25-20, 25-19, 25-21.

In OUA women’s hockey, the Gee-Gees and Ravens split their two games. The Gee-Gees are in second place in the East at 7-5, while Carleton is seventh at 3-10.

After losing 3-2 in overtime to the University of Guelph Gryphons, the Gee-Gees blanked the Nipissing University Lakers 4-0 on goals by Ella Humphrey, Rebecca Morissette, Naomi Morin and Madison Berven, which supported the shutout goaltending of Lauren Mooney.

Berven and Maelle Laplante scored for Ottawa against Guelph.

The Ravens played a pair of one-goal games, losing 1-0 in Nipissing, but edging Guelph 2-1 in overtime on a game-winning goal by Hayden Serniuk and a power-play marker from Erica Buckley.

Marc-Antoine Seguin scored at 19:08 of the third period to give the Gee-Gees a 2-1 win over the McGill University Redbirds. Max Grondin had the other goal and assisted on the game-winner, while Zach Giroux picked up two assists. Goaltender Franky Lapenna stopped 35 of McGill’s 36 shots.

Power-play goals by Braden Virtue and David Fournier put Carleton on the scoresheet, but the Ravens lost 6-2 to the Queen’s Gaels.

KATIE BUTTS RETURNS FROM INJURY, HITS 1,000-POINT MARK FOR UNB

Ottawa’s Katie Butts has returned to the University of New Brunswick Reds women’s basketball lineup in a big way, after dislocating her left shoulder on Oct. 5.

After coming off the bench in her first two games back for a combined 19 points and moving into second place in team career rebounds at 650 on Nov. 14, Butts scored 12 points on Friday to climb over the 1,000-point total in her fifth season with the Reds.

Butts posted a double-double against the Memorial University Sea-Hawks with 12 points and 14 rebounds as well as six assists and two blocks. She added to her career point and rebound totals with 13 points and eight rebounds in the second game against Memorial.

“Reaching a thousand points has been a dream of mine since the first time I stepped onto the Reds’ court, even though younger me never imagined it would actually be possible,” said Butts, who was showered with water by her teammates after the game in the team room. “I’m incredibly grateful for everyone who has pushed me, developed me and believed in me from the very beginning.

NCAA WOMEN’S SOCCER SEASON OVER FOR ANNABELLE CHUKWU, NOTRE DAME

Sophomore Annabelle Chukwu of Ottawa will have to wait another year for medal success at the NCAA women’s soccer championship tournament.

After defeating the University of Illinois Chicago 4-0, Notre Dame fell 1-0 in double overtime to Ohio State University in the second round.

Chukwu played in 20 games for the Fighting Irish this season and was the team’s second-leading scorer with 12 goals as well as three assists. She also took 59 shots and counted six game-winning goals.

ROUGH RIDE FOR LOCAL SLEDDERS ON BOBSLED OLYMPIC TRACK

It was a rough start to the World Cup season for Ottawa bobsledders Pat Norton and Mike Evelyn O’Higgins competing for the first time on the 2026 Olympic track in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. They missed earning second runs with finishes outside the top-20, placing 24th in the four-man event and 25th in two-man.

Ottawa brakewoman Charlotte Ross was not selected to race for one of the three Canadian two-woman sleds in the World Cup season opener.

Former Carleton University Ravens football players Jay Dearborn and Keaton Bruggeling won a gold medal in a dead heat with a British sled in a North American Cup two-man race in Whistler, B.C. The local pair also combined for a fourth-place finish in one four-man race and a bronze medal in a second four-man race behind Jamaica, which claimed its first-ever international gold medal. Dearborn was second in a two-man race with another Canadian pusher as well.

CANADA REACHES THIRD TIER OF RUGBY SEVENS PLAY WITH REGIONAL QUALIFIER WIN

Ottawa’s Jamie Armstrong scored a pair of tries in the semi-finals of the RAN Sevens en route to a Canadian gold medal at the regional rugby event in Trinidad and Tobago. Ottawa’s Elias Hancock was also part of the Canadian squad. The Canadian men now qualify for the third tier of international rugby sevens series play.

Ottawa Irish product Pam Buisa of Gatineau has been selected for the Canadian women’s team’s rugby sevens World Series season opener next weekend in Dubai.

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