The Huntsville High School (HHS) Senior girls basketball team has had a successful 2017 season and they are not done yet.
Leading their league in first place, the Hoyas attended the Muskoka Parry Sound (MPS) championships in Bracebridge on Thursday, November 9 and beat Parry Sound High School in the finals to take the gold.
It was a double win for the school as the Junior girls basketball team also beat their opponents, St. Dominic Catholic High School, to take top spot.
The following week, the Georgian Bay Secondary School Association (GBSSA) championships were held on Wednesday, November 15 in Huntsville. HHS hosted the highest ranked teams that advanced to the GBs from Muskoka/Parry Sound, including its own Senior and Junior girls teams.
The Junior girls took gold and are now GBSSA champions. The story wasn’t quite as golden for the Senior girls. They were up against St. Joseph’s and fought tooth and nail, basket for basket, foul for foul. In the final seconds of the last quarter, St. Joe’s pulled ahead and took the win. The Senior Hoyas left all of their sweat and tears on the court. It was a tough loss for all, but they will still advance to the next level of competition this season.
Congratulations to the Junior girls on their GBSSA championship win!
The HHS Junior girls basketball team are GBSSA 2017 champs (Photo: @HuntsvilleHS on Twitter)
The Senior girls need to rest and regroup as a team to prepare for what for some will be the last games of their high school basketball journey — the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) championships — on their home court. The OFSAA 2017 Girls’ AA Basketball Championships will be hosted by Huntsville from Thursday, November 23 to Saturday, November 25 at venues across Muskoka. See the schedule here.
Former Huntsville High School teacher and coach Susan Fawcett is the OFSAA host convenor. She shared her passion for the sport and the benefits she sees for the athletes in attendance. “In my first year of teaching, my mentor and role model, Deb Austin, was coaching the girl’s basketball team that won OFSAA and went on to Nationals that year. I think it’s so important to celebrate sport for females, whether they are playing at a high level or house league. This opportunity to host, allows our communities to expose girls of all ages to high level sport and achievement. Due to the fact that games are happening in three different communities, we are able to expose young female athletes to picturing themselves playing such a sport.”
Four schools in the region — Almaguin SS, HHS, St. Dominic Catholic School and Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes SS — will host 18 teams from across the province.
The following teams will play in the Huntsville championship: Havergal College, Fenelon College, Bishop Macdonell C.H.S., Frontenac S.S., Huntsille H.S., St. Joseph’s Catholic S.S., Notre Dame C.S.S., Nelson H.S., Holy Trinity S.S., Cairine Wilson S.S., Lo-Ellen Park S.S., St. Ignatius H.S., Dundas Valley S.S., Wallaceburg D.S.S., Father Henry Carr C.S.S., Stephen Leacock C.I., St. Michael C.S.S., and Sacred Heart Catholic H.S.
Two of the Senior girls team members, Emma McAlpine and Joey Currie, explained why this opportunity to compete was so important to them and how it would be a dream come true to win such an important game.
Emma has been playing ball since the age of two with a family passion for the sport. She says, “to make it this far is a privilege.”
Joey agrees that it is a dream and says, “We’ve all worked hard and have come so far. We’ve put our blood, sweat and tears over the years together to play. It would be an honour to not just be a part of OFSAA but to win!”
OFSAA will convene over three consecutive days with Huntsville’s first game on Thursday, November 23 at 1:00 p.m. against Lo-Ellen Park SS at Huntsville High School. Come and cheer on your Senior Girls’ AA Team!
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