Knights fall short at home
Niagara fails to advance to medal round as host at women’s hoops tourney
It was almost déjà vu all over again for the Niagara Knights at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Women’s Basketball Championship.
Well, almost.
In each of the past two seasons, they faced the Algonquin Wolves — again, the lone entry from the East Division — in their final game at provincials.
However, unlike 2022, when Niagara rebounded from a semifinalround loss to the Humber Hawks, the eventual gold medallist, to defeat Algonquin for the bronze at the championship held in Windsor, a quarterfinal loss to the Wolves in the rematch eliminated the Knights from medal contention at this year’s championship taking place in Welland.
Janee Harrison, St. Catharines, Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School; and Taryn Mitchell, Port Colborne, Lakeshore Catholic; each scored 15 points and Molly Taylor, Niagara Falls, A.N. Myer; added 11 for Niagara as Algonquin remained undefeated with a 63-53 victory.
The Wolves, who went 14-0 in league play and placed first in the east, dropped a 53-38 decision to the Lambton Lions in the semifinals and played the Fanshawe Falcons in the bronze-medal game Sunday in Welland. Humber played Lambton for the gold medal.
Mitchell and Rousseau were both named to the second all-star team at the awards banquet held Thursday night at the Holiday Inn in St. Catharines. They each shared the honour with their teammates.
“It makes me feel very grateful for my team,” Mitchell, 19, said. “They got me to where I am, even though it’s a personal award.”
Rousseau, who was selected to the all-rookie team at last year’s OCAA championship, was happy Mitchell also earned all-star honours.
“I’m really excited to have won it with my point guard who I play very closely with,” the 20-year-old said. “I’m really grateful for this.”
Mitchell felt that as the host team, the Knights came into the threeday, eight-team tournament with a target on their backs.
“The teams here definitely want to overrule us in our own gym as many teams would want to,” she said. “We definitely have a target on our back because we are at home, but it doesn’t make us anything different than any other team that’s here.”
Competing in the West Division in league play was difficult for Niagara “because there are so many good teams.”
“But I just feel that prepared us more for what we are going into because this whole year we’ve been in preparation for the toughest games that we can play.”
Mitchell, who attended E.L. Crossley Secondary School in Pelham before graduating from Lakeshore, dismissed the suggestion that the regular season was an extended pre-season given the
Knights were assured a berth in the elite eight. She said Niagara dedicated its season to making a “statement.”
“We tried our best the entire year to show people that we deserved to be here, and it’s not just a bye for us and we deserve to play in our gym.”
Rousseau also felt a bull’s-eye on the back of her blue and white uniform as a member of the host team.
“We did place and we did medal last year,” she said.
Rousseau suggested host teams have an advantage because of all the entries in the field they are the only ones who don’t have to live out of a suitcase.
“It was extremely hard,” she said of playing at provincials last year on the road. “I think you get out of your game-day groove, the little game-day ritual that everyone makes for themselves.”
Heading into the championship this year, the Knights talked about how grateful they were that they can be with their families.
“We can get ready at home, and we can have our change room,” she said. “It will be just like how the whole season was for us.”
Niagara finished the women’s college basketball regular season fourth in the West Division with a 9-7 record.
Niagara was also among the earliest casualties at the men’s basketball championships in Windsor. Delroy Grandison, with 16 points, 10 rebounds; and Reggie Williams, 13 points; scored in double digits as the Knights were outscored 39-22 over the last two quarters in a 74-61 loss to the George Brown Huskies.
Niagara finished fourth in the west with an 11-7 record, while George Brown, 17-1, placed first in the East Division.
Grandison earned second-team all-star honours and the Knights were named the defensive team of the year.