For the first time in 10 years, the La Salle Black Knights have won the Kingston-Area High School Senior Girls basketball championship.
On Monday night at the Queen’s Athletic Centre, Jason Reynolds’ club defeated the Frontenac Falcons 40-27 to capture the Barry O’Connor Memorial Trophy.
“It’s just great, I couldn’t be happier,” said senior forward Alexa Sawchuk.
Both teams struggled to score in the first half. La Salle went to the dressing room with an 11-4 advantage.
“Playing at Queen’s, in front of a big crowd, was nerve-wracking,” Sawchuk added.
“Coach Reynolds told us to relax and keep on shooting. We did just that and the balls started to drop. We loosened up and scored 29 points in the final two quarters.”
Leading the Black Knights offensively was centre Bryn Reynolds. She scored 13 points and hauled down nine rebounds.
“I thought we played really well,” Reynolds said.
“We struggled a bit in the early going but played some very strong defence. Frontenac is a good team. They beat us earlier in the season so we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We stuck to our game plan and pulled away in the second half. This is a big win for La Salle and our school community. We really deserved it.”
The Black Knights now advance to the Eastern Ontario AA tournament. They will host the four-team event on Thursday and Friday. The winner will qualify for the Ontario championships in London, Nov. 22-24.
Frontenac didn’t go home empty-handed from Queen’s. The junior Falcons won the KASSAA crown with a victory over the Kingston Collegiate Blues 52-36.
Mikayla McFarlane and Chloe Cole led the way with 13 points apiece.