Spartans claim junior title for girls’ hoops sweep
ORANGEVILLE – The Centennial Spartans got stingy in the third quarter and it paid off with the District 10 high school junior girls’ basketball championship Thursday.
The Spartans held the host Orangeville Bears to four points in the third quarter as they claimed a 50-43 victory in the delayed final.
While the start of the season was delayed by COVID-19 precautions until after the usual end of the high school girls’ basketball season and then the championship match was delayed by two months due to coronavirus concerns and the provincial lockdown.
The win by the Spartans in the junior final gave Centennial a sweep of the D10 girls’ hoops championships as the senior Spartans were named champions after the Guelph CVI Green Gaels forfeited the final that was to have been played Friday.
In the junior final, the host Bears jumped ahead early as they led 15-10 at the end of the first quarter and 27-24 at halftime. The Spartans came out flying in the third quarter to jump into a 41-31 lead by the end of the quarter.
Natalie Cremasco led the Spartans with 15 points while Jenna Davey had 12 and Nica Borghese added 11.
Avery Miller had 21 points for Orangeville while R. Beattie had nine and Katie Firth collected eight.
The championship win also completed a playoff rally for the Spartans who had been the fourth and final playoff qualifier with a 4-3 regular-season record, finishing behind the GCVI Green Gaels (7-0), Orangeville (6-1) and Ross Royals (5-2).
In the semifinals Dec. 9, the Spartans edged GCVI 24-20 in a low-scoring match and Orangeville slipped by Ross 44-39.
In senior, Centennial won all six of its regular-season games and won their semifinal with the Bishop Macdonell Celtics 50-24 Dec. 9.
GCVI won five times during the regular season and posted a 49-33 win over the St. James Lions in the semifinals.
- Guelph Sports Journal