County Champions

The Seaway District High School junior girls basketball team entered the county basketball Single-A championships as the top seed.  The tournament was hosted in Iroquois November 10th at Seaway District High School.

The Spartans played against fourth-seeded Rothwell-Osnabruck Lancers in the semi-final match. Seaway took an early lead after the first quarter, leading 10-2 while dominating ball possession. Darci Dodge, Martina Lewis, Anna Henderson and Cameryn Broad each had a basket while Maggie Joldersma and Abby Smith each went one-for-two on foul shots to get a point each. Alana Coderre had the lone basket in the first for the Lancers.

Kristyn VanHoof was one-for-two on foul shots in the second quarter, while Broad had three baskets and was two-for-two on foul shots, holding the Lancers pointless in the quarter. Spartans lead 19-2 at the half.

Broad added two more two pointers for the Spartans as they increased their lead to 25-4 in the third quarter. Charly Stinson scored for a lone basket for the Lancers.

R-O attempted a comeback in the fourth quarter, with baskets by Elaina Read and Coderre. Stinson had a basket and a three-pointer in the quarter. Broad led the way for the Spartans adding three more baskets, while Harneet Cheema scored two. Final score at the buzzer, Seaway Spartans 35, Rothwell-Osnabruck Lancers 13.

The second semi-final game saw the second-seed Tagwi Warriors take on third-seed La Citadelle Patriotes. The close-fought match saw the Warriors defeat the Patriotes 29-24 to take on Seaway in the county championship.

The championship game started with Seaway quickly jumping to a 7-1 lead in the first quarter with Broad landing a three-pointer off the top of the key while Henderson and Dodge landed a basket each. Sierra Woodside made one-out-of-two foul shots for the single point for Tagwi.

Henderson scored two more baskets in the second quarter while VanHoof landed a single. The Warriors outscored the Spartans in the second quarter, scoring 10 points including Janine Spichtig landing a basket and half of the foul shots she was awarded. Cecilia Rio scored a single point in a foul shot. Seaway led Tagwi 13-11 at half time.

Third quarter action saw the Spartans get eight single points off foul shots by Broad, VanHoof, Henderson and Maggie Joldersma. Makenna Brownlee scored twice, while Rio scored once and Spichtig went one-for-six on foul shots keeping Tagwi in the game. The Spartans continued to lead the Warriors 20-18 as the game entered the fourth quarter.

Cameryn Broad scored three baskets while VanHoof and Henderson each went one-for-two in foul shots. Brownlee and Woodside scored a bucket a piece for Tagwi but it wasn’t enough. The Seaway Spartans win 28-22 over the Tagwi Warriors and move on to the EOSSAA championships.

“They have been awesome,” said team coach Trevor Thompson.

“What’s unfortunate is that the people don’t see the work these girls have put in during practice. They work hard and play hard.”

The team moves on to the EOSSAA championships  at Perth and District Collegiate Institute (PDCI) on November 17th. The Spartans are seeded fifth in the six team, two pool tournament. Seaway is seeded fifth against Brockville Collegiate Institute and PDCI, both which were Double-A schools last year and moved to the Single-A division this year.

Pool B has St. Francis Xavier, Opeongo and Almonte competing.

The EOSSAA championships are the highest level for junior-level high school basketball.

The Spartans were undefeated against Single-A schools in the county, losing only to St. Joseph Catholic Secondary, a Double-A school in the league. Seaway beat both Cornwall Collegiate and Holy Trinity Catholic in the regular season, also Double-A schools. A school is Double-A in Ontario when the high school population is 500 or more students.

“They have been successful this year because they’ve worked at being not just better players but better athletes,” said Thompson.

“They worked on everything, and do all the small things really well.”
 

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