THUNDER BAY -- The Queens of Clarkson Street are headed to provincials for a fourth straight year.
The Hammarskjold Vikings on Saturday pounded the visiting Dryden Eagles 57-26 at the Superior Collegiate gymnasium to sweep their best-of-three NWOSSA girls basketball final 2-0, earning them a berth at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations ‘AA’ championship later this month in Belle River, Ont.
The Vikings were led once again by Madison Wigwas, who scored 24 points, despite sitting the entire fourth quarter, her team nursing a 32-point lead entering the final period at the Superior Collegiate gymnasium.
Hana Whalen chipped in 15, while Sydney Charles added seven for the victors.
It’s a good feeling, Wigwas said.
“Now we’re going to OFSAA, so it’s great,” said Wigwas, the leading scorer in both wins over the Eagles.
“It was a fun game and I’m glad we won.”
A strong start was the difference.
“The first quarter was a bit slow, but we picked it up in the second and that’s where we got our bigger lead. That’s when we started being more comfortable and all our shots started going in,” the Grade 12 student said.
It will mark Charles’ third straight trip to provincials, and she’s brimming with confidence.
“It just feels awesome to keep that going,” she said.
“I think we just need confidence because we know the teams there are going to be good. We need to have faith in ourselves that we can do it.”
For the Eagles, it was a chance to measure themselves against the region’s best team. There was a lot to like, especially the second half, in which Dryden outscored Hammarskjold 15-14, after trailing 43-11 at the half.
Dryden scored the first six points of the third quarter and held the Vikings off the board until the midway point of the period, when Wigwas drained a three. She'd add three more from the charity stripe, the two teams each posting six points in the third.
“We know they’re a very talented team and we wanted to give them credit,” said Dryden’s Ally Wisneski, who equaled Monica Tourond’s six points for the team high in the morning affair.
“We wanted to put up a fight. This is our last game as seniors and we really wanted to end on a high note.”
The OFSAA championship begins on Thursday.
On Friday, the Churchill Trojans captured the NWOSSA 'AA' varsity boys volleyball title with a two-game sweep of the host Dryden Eagles. They took Game 1 25-17, 28-26 and 25-22, then swept the second game 25-13, 25-15 and 25-17 to complete the triumph.
The Trojans advance to OFSAA's 'AA' championship in Windsor, which also starts on Thursday.
