Royals upset Thunder in senior final

WESTSIDE THUNDER captain Ivana Juric turns the ball down court in their 53-31 win over CDDHS in the Junior Girls District 4 basketball championship held Monday afternoon in Orangeville. Photo/MIKE MALONEY It was the meeting people were waiting for all season, as both junior and senior teams from Westside and Centre Dufferin met in Orangeville on Monday afternoon, each vying for the title of District 4 Girls Basketball champion in their respective divisions.

Taking to the floor first were the junior girls. Finishing one - two in the regular season standings, undefeated Westside was the odds-on favorite to win the championship, having handed CDDHS their only two losses of the season.

And true to form, the Thunder followed the script to a letter. With Sami Mikulik leading the charge with 15 points for Westside and Braedyn Ferguson nipping at her heels with 12, Orangeville took the lead early and never looked back, posting a 53-31 win to take the Junior Girls District 4 title.

Royals Clarre Shaw was the bright light on the Shelburne roster, notching nine points for CDDHS.

In the afternoon's second game, it was the senior girls taking to the floor with the only expectation in this game being that a closely contested, hard fought battle be waged between the two teams.

In regular season play, just as with the juniors, the two squads also finished one - two in the standings and, again, with Westside taking both of their two regular season meetings. Unlike the junior paring however, the senior games were much closer affairs and a determined Royals team knew this was one they could win.

From the opening tip off, Shelburne took it to the Thunder, and never let up.

Melanie Koehli opened the scoring for CDDHS, followed by Hannah Early chipping in for five points to give Shelburne a 8-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Bouncing back in the second quarter, Westside fell in step behind Janelle Kottlenberg. A force to be reckoned with both defensively and offensively, Kottlenberg made a beautiful pass down the floor to Katie Rankin. Making no mistake to drop two, she wasn't afraid to mix it up and drove the floor time and time again.

By the half, Westside had regained the lead but only by the slimmest of margins with the score 20-19.

Smelling victory in the air, Shelburne cranked it up in the second half.

Jordyn Bishop made a smart pass to Koehli under the basket for two, giving CDDHS the lead once again.

Emily Bonello dropped a three pointer from the left before Kottlenberg notched a pair for Orangeville to keep it close.

But Westside's frustration soon began to show as the Royals continued to control the play. They added ten more to make the score 34-27.

Fourth quarter action started with an end-toend seesaw.

Brooke Rowland was the go-to shooter for Westside, dropping seven points in a row for the Thunder. Yet, CDDHS responded to each with one of their own.

Bonnello would score two before adding another triple, while Emma Bryan threaded the needle with a pass through a crowd to Bishop for two before adding a basket of her own.

Desperation could be seen on the faces of the Thunder players but they refused to give up and, trailing 49-38 with 1:42 left on the clock, pulled a rabbit out of the hat.

Sabrina Fell and Courtney Capko scored four and two points respectively before Kottlenberg rolled in. She hit for three baskets in a row and sank two free throws to tie the score at 51-51.

But the Royals were not to be denied and wasted no time in sealing the deal.

Sidney Beam broke the deadlock, picking up two off a rebound before Rachel Krushinisky stepped up for Shelburne. Adding to her nine points already, she counted for six more while Alison Whitten chipped in with three to boost the Royals past the standing champions and claim the District 4 Senior Girls basketball title by a final score of 63-53.

CDDHS will now advance to play St James on Wednesday (results unavailable at press time) in the CWOSSA AAA qualifier against St James.