THUNDER BAY – The Hammarskjold Vikings senior girl’s basketball dynasty rolled to a sixth title in seven years on Monday night.
But it was anything but a cakewalk.
The St. Patrick Saints held the lead for the majority of the fourth quarter, but a late 10-5 run over the final three-and-half minutes was enough to power the Vikings to a 60-56 triumph and back-to-back championships.
Danielle Charles led the way for Hammarskjold, scoring a game-high 27 to pace the Vikings attack. The 16-year-old helped put the game away late, hitting a pair of free throws before driving the lane for another two to stretch her team’s lead to five in the final minute of play.
“It feels really amazing,” said Charles, who had 15 at the half and contributed six points in each of the final two quarters to help deliver the win.
“It just shows how the program at Hammarskjold has been built really great.”
Charles, whose team heads next to the NWOSSA regional final against a yet-to-be-determined team, said they expected the Saints to give them a run for their money in the final, which was played at Lakehead University’s C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse.
“We just had to keep calm. We knew we could win. We beat them before and we needed to give all our energy and keep our energy up the entire game,” she said.
It was a back-and-forth contest the whole night.
It was the Saints who came out of the gate hardest, taking an 11-7 lead in the opening quarter. But the Vikings woke up and scored nine in a row to finish the first, taking their first lead of the night on a Charles bucket.
They upped their run to 11-0 before the Saints finally found the hoop early in the second, Emily Sanzo burying a pair of free throws.
The Vikings upped their lead to a game-high nine late in the second on another Charles basket, but the Saints chipped away at the lead, going on a 6-0 run to close out the half, Sarah Stanzo dropping a trey and scoring two more off a steal, racing to the net to make it a 30-27 game after 20 minutes.
Hammarskjold led by as many as four, but Sarah Stanzo cut the lead to one and sister Emily added a late hoop off another steal to give the Saints a 40-39 lead after three.
A Shae Cofey hoop gave the Saints a 47-42 advantage in the first three minutes of the fourth, but the Vikings stormed back.
Kamryn Dobransky was fouled going to the net and made the foul shot to complete the three-point play, then evened the score 47-47 a few moments later.
The Saints took the lead twice more, but Mia Surkan gave Hammarksjold the lead for good, driving the lane for two.
“It was a very tough game,” Dobransky said. “It’s a great feeling. Going back-to-back, this year we had a lot of pressure on us as seniors because of the previous years of winnings. And we actually lost to them more than we won against them in regular season. This was a really big game for us and it was a huge accomplishment in our end.”
First-year coach Ben Daniar agreed both team’s got their money’s worth.
“It was a tough game and we knew it was going to be a tough game. Kudos to St. Pat’s, they were ready for us. They put some great pressure defence on our offensive press break, but we found a way through it,” Daniar said. “It was a back-and-fourth. Our leaders really stepped up today.”
