Knights, Saints capture NOSSA basketball crowns (20 photos)

The St. Mary's Knights and St. Basil Saints cruised to Northern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (NOSSA) Girls Basketball championships on Saturday night at St. Mary's.

In the AA playdowns, the Knights took advantage of a weary Chippewa Raiders team and never trailed in a 58-34 win in the senior division title game while Saints dominated Sudbury Notre Dame in a 49-12 victory in the junior championship match.

Meanwhile at Korah in the AAA playdowns, the Korah Colts dropped both championship games including a 55-32 decision to the Sudbury Lasalle Lancers in the senior championship and a 38-11 loss to Sudbury Lockerby in the junior final.

*** NOSSA 'AA' SENIOR:

The Knights are now off to the Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association (OFSAA) championship in Prescott, which begins on Thursday, with their convincing NOSSA championship run.

St. Mary's has yet to lose a game this season in league and playoff action after rolling to a 12-0 regular season record and a city playoff championship last weekend.

In the final, the Knight's led the game from start to finish as Kathleen Thorburn drained three three-point shots in the first quarter to open an early 19-8 lead.

The Raiders, who were playing with a short bench, the absence of their starting point guard and a quick turnaround after their semi-final win, battled to stay close in the second quarter but couldn't contain St. Mary's in the second half.

"(Thorburn) has come through all year for us," said Knights coach Dave Zagordo. "She hits the shots when we need them the most. I thought they might put a box-and-one on her but she was just in the zone and she had open shots and can hit them on a consistent basis.

"We don't know teams (at OFSAA) but we're going to go there and give it our best shot. We're on a roll right now, the girls are excited and hopefully we can compete. I told the girls before that if we get the chance to go, it will an experience of a lifetime. I had the chance to go as a player and it was an awesome experience."

Thorburn topped all scorers with 22 points while Brittany Denney added eight, Shana Brown seven and Kira Favaro six for the Knights. Kaytlyn Faucon topped the Raiders with 11 points while Paula Cook added nine. "We had a bit of a tough schedule as we had to play the 3 o'clock game and then back for this (at 7 p.m.)," said Raiders head coach Dez Collins. "Plus we were missing our starting point guard and our bench was short.

"We had nine players coming here but (point guard Nina Connell) is a national level soccer player and she had to be there this weekend. I'm really proud of this group. We have a young team and only three graduate so we hope to rebound and be back here next year. Our team didn't quit but it was really tough for us to play back-to-back like that."

St. Mary's advanced to the final with a 51-27 win over Sudbury Mary Mount in the semi-final after beating the Elliot Lake Atoms 68-20 to open the tournament on Friday. Thorburn scored 12 points and Denneny 11 in the win over Mary Mount while Thorburn drained 18 with Brown and Denneny adding 10 each in the victory over Elliot Lake.

The Knights will make the 12-hour trek to Prescott, located west of Cornwall, on Tuesday and will play there first game on Thursday.

*** NOSSA 'AA' JUNIOR:

The St. Basil Saints completed a perfect season of their own by trouncing Notre Dame 49-12 for the regional crown.

After a perfect 10-0 regular season, the Saints captured the city championship last week with a win over the St. Mary's Knights.

In the NOSSA final, the Saints used their defense to hold Notre Dame to just three points in the first quarter and two more in the second quarter. St. Basil led by quarter scores of 8-3, 21-5 and 33-8.

Lauren Wozny scored 13 points to pace the Saints while Corina Bruni added 12, Angela Bruni 11 and Lacey Caputo seven. Cassy Watt scored nine points for Notre Dame.

St. Basil advanced to the final with a 38-22 semi-final win over Sir James Dunn. Wozny led the way with 15 points while Ali Wytsma topped the Eagles with nine. On Friday, the Saints opened with a 45-18 over Chippewa as Wozny again led all scorers with 15 points.

Sir James Dunn fell to Notre Dame in the opener 36-31 as Wytsma scored 10 points for the Eagles.

*** NOSSA 'AAA' SENIOR:

The Korah Colts put up a fight but couldn't get past perennial powerhouse Lasalle in the championship game.

Lasalle, who won 55-32, took control of the game early as Lisa Furchner scored 14 of her game high 27 points in the first quarter to give the Lancers an 18-4 lead. Furchner added seven more points in the second quarter to grab a 32-13 lead at the break.

Sarah Levesque scored 10 points to lead the Colts while Jaclyn Cummings added nine and Laura Clement five.

Korah advanced to the final with a 36-24 win over the Mount St. Joseph College Royals in one semi-final. Levesque led the Colts with 11 points while Christina Medaglia added eight. Erin Hurd paced the Royals with 10 points and Christina Maione added seven.

On Friday, Korah defeated North Bay Scollard Hall 57-48 while the Mount fell to Lasalle 60-17. Levesque led the Colts with 16 points while Vanessa Chaimbrone topped the Royals with 10 points.

*** NOSSA 'AAA' JUNIOR:

In the championship game, the Korah Colts were hampered by a blazing start to the first and third quarters by Lockerby as the Sudbury representatives cruised to the 38-11 win.

Lockerby led 13-1 after one quarter and then scored 17 points in the third to take a 35-10 lead. Jessica Bauer scored five points for the Colts while Kaitlin Sheridan led the winners with 17 points.

Korah advanced to the final with a nail-biting 47-45 overtime win over the St. Mary's Knights in the semi-final. Bauer scored 13 points and Melissa Turco added 11 for the Colts. Meagan Delfre paced the Knights with nine points while Beth Gignac and Katie Babcock added eight each.

On Friday, Korah fell to Lockerby 42-25 and St. Mary's defeated Scollard Hall 52-20. Bauer popped 17 points for the Colts and Delfre nine for the Knights.

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