Raiders rule as varsity girls champs

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This article was published 18/03/2018 (2222 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Oak Park Raiders were heavy favourites to repeat as varsity girls titleists at the Milk AAAA Provincial High School Basketball Championships and they lived up to their pedigree Monday night.

After a sluggish start, the Oak Park juggernaut rolled to a 70-44 victory over the No. 2 Vincent Massey Trojans at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

And it was no surprise that Oak Park post Claire Signatovich and point guard Lauren Bartlett were central figures in a win that pushed the team’s overall record to 30-1.

The Raiders, who beat Massey in the 2017 AAAA title game, were ranked No. 1 all season and won back-to-back championships for their school for the first time in 19 years.

Tournament MVP Signatovich had 24 points on 12-for-24 shooting and added a game-high 20 rebounds.

“I think this is our second game starting off a little slow and as team, our coach called a timeout and I guess we all decided it’s go time,” she said. “We’ve gotta go if we want to win.”

Head coach Murray Brown, who has guided six provincial championship teams in his 31 seasons, had high praise for the multi-talented Signatovich.

“She was amazing,” said Brown. “Any shot that they missed, we rebounded and got running. The nice thing about Claire, she’s a big kid, she gets the rebound and then she can push the ball in transition. We don’t have to outlet pass it. We’re pretty blessed to have a kid like that on our team.

Signatovich had a combined 40 points, 37 rebounds and six blocked shots in the semifinal and final.

The Trojans, keen on handing the Raiders their first made-in-Manitoba loss this season, built an early lead and held a 20-15 edge with 7:30 left in the second quarter.

But that’s where Oak Park’s superiority started to show with the Raiders reeling off 15 straight points in a 51/2-minute stretch en route to a 30-20 lead. The teams went to intermission with Oak Park leading 34-22.

“Well, Massey came out pretty hard… We talked about staying calm, taking every possession at a time and playing hard,” said Bartlett, who hobbled to the bench after aggravating an injury to her right ankle in the first quarter. She returned late in the second quarter to play a key role, quarterbacking her offence to a runaway in the second half.

Bartlett finished with seven points, one assist and four steals. Emily Johnson and Holly Klassen added 20 and 15 points, respectively, for the winners.

“Holly Klassen was spectacular, all tournament,” said Brown. “And Emily Johnson — talk about being unsung. She’s under the radar all the time, but she defends hard, she runs the floor hard. She’s a keeper.”

Guard Vanessa Lee was Massey’s best on the big stage, registering 15 points, four rebounds and three steals.

“We couldn’t seem to execute or buy a bucket,” said Massey head coach Stacy Hawash, whose squad finished the season with a 22-7 record. “It seemed to spiral, and we just didn’t play our game… That’s the way momentum swings. Oak Park’s an excellent team. They have lots of scoring. At that point they just seemed to take over and ran a little bit, and turnovers hurt us.”

Here’s a scary thought: Oak Park should have all five starters back next season when Signatovich, Bartlett, Johnson, Klassen and Renee Swanepoel return for Grade 12. So, any talk of a three-peat?

“I’m not saying anything right now but I mean, if we play hard, I guess it’s definitely possible,” said Bartlett.

HONOUR ROLL: Sturgeon Heights’ Anna Kernaghan, Glenlawn’s Jojo Ngongo, Massey’s Debbie Nkiasi and Holly Klassen and Emily Johnson of Oak Park were named to the tournament all-star squad.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @sawa14