Knights, Saints capture city basketball crowns

The St. Mary’s Knights and St. Basil Saints are city champions of the Girls High School Basketball League.

On Saturday at St. Basil, the Knights stopped the Korah Colts in the senior division final 41-32 after the Saints grabbed the junior division championship with a 27-18 win over St. Mary’s.

In the senior final, the Knights, who finished with an undefeated season locally, were able to hold off the pesky Colts by hitting some timely baskets whenever the Colts were able to gain some momentum down the stretch.

The Knights jumped out to a quick start and took a 14-6 lead after one quarter and then an 18-10 advantage into the half after a defensive second quarter.

In the second half, the Colts responded with the first four points to cut the lead in half but Kathleen Thorburn, who was clutch in the final 16 minutes, hit a three point shot at the end of the third quarter to give the Knights a 30-22 lead heading to the final quarter.

The Colts continued their fight to get back into the contest but could not cut the Knights lead to less than five points. Thorburn hit another three pointer for a nine point lead but the Colts pulled to within five with 2:08 remaining when Sarah Levesque drained a three point basket.

Stephanie Colizza sealed the Knights win with a bucket with 1:40 remaining to stymie any thoughts of a Colts comeback.

Kira Favaro led the Knights with 14 points while Thorburn added 10 and Brittany Denneny nine. Levesque finished with 13 points for the Colts while Jaclyn Cummings added six and Kaitlyn Train five.

The Knights now advance to the Northern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (NOSSA) AA playdowns while Korah will play in the AAA championships. Both tournaments will be held in the Sault beginning Friday.

Meanwhile, the St. Basil Saints will travel to Sudbury for the NOSSA ‘A’ championships beginning Friday.

*** JUNIOR:

In the junior final, a 9-0 run by the St. Basil Saints to begin the second half was enough to put the game out of reach in their win over St. Mary’s.

St. Mary’s took an 11-9 lead into the half marking the first time the Saints trailed at halftime in local play.

The Saints deflated the Knights with two quick baskets by Corrina Bruni and Lauren Wozny 12 seconds apart in the fourth quarter. In the final three minutes, the Saints showed incredible poise and patience by running a success stall offense to eat up the clock.

Wozny and Katie Komsa paced the Saints with eight points each while Lacey Caputo and Bruni added four each. Melissa Thibeault led the Knights with five points.

The Saints will now play in the NOSSA AA championships while St. Mary’s will represent the city in NOSSA AAA.

On Tuesday, a special tiebreaker between Mount St. Joseph and Korah will determine a third NOSSA representative in the junior division.

*** REFEREE’S AWARD:

St. Basil’s Lara Stilin captured the Lyn Cole Trophy as the Referee’s Award winner for the senior division player best combining sportsmanship and ability.

Stilin edged out nominees Amanda Whitmell (Bawating), Sarah Levesque (Korah), Miranda Chaimbrone (Mount St. Joseph), Kathleen Thorburn (St. Mary's), Stephanie Davies (Sir James Dunn) and Bridgit Hindermeier (White Pines).

FURTHER DETAILS AND PHOTOS ARE CURRENTLY BEING ADDED.