The girls basketball teams from Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School pulled off a rare feat this season, as both the junior girls and senior girls team captured Georgian Bay Secondary Schools Athletics (GBSSA) championships.
Both teams travelled to Huntsville to compete in the GBSSA semi-finals and finals.
In the semis, Fogarty's junior girls beat host host Huntsville 48-35 in a game where they lead wire to wire.
In the finals, the Flames took on rival St. Joseph's from Barrie. In a tightly contested, back-and-forth game, the Flames found themselves trailing by one with three minutes to go. The Flames were able to use a timeout to regroup and, in the final minutes, were able to take control of the game by using strong team defence and an unselfish offensive attack where each player on the floor scored a basket before the end of the game, giving them a 49-41 win and the GBSSA title.
Team members included: Chloe Blake, Sophia Columbus, Jordana Graves, Avery Kaczanowski, Hayley Landon, Sienna McParland, Siena Orsini, Emma Pilger, Ali Rolston, Jordin Somerville and Sierra Tryon.
The Patrick Fogarty senior girls also beat Huntsville in the semi finals, trimphing by a score of 58-34. The Flames maintained a high pace of play to out-run, out-shoot, and out-defend the host Hoyas.
In the final, Patrick Fogarty took on Georgian Bay District S.S.for the third consecutive year to see who would have GBSSA bragging rights.
In another back-and-forth game with multiple lead changes, the Flames found themselves down two with 45 seconds left. The Flames made a pair of free throws to tie the game, sending it to overtime.
The break at the end of regulation was all the Flames needed to regroup. In overtime the Flames controlled the game, outscoring GBDSS 9-2 in the extra frame to win 58-51 and book their ticket to the 'AA' OFSAA Championships in Stratford.
At the OFSAA championship, the local team started against the No. 1 seed team from St. Catharines. The girls competed hard and came up short against the eventual first and fourth place finishers in their first two games.
Patrick Fogarty then regrouped to compete in the consolation round. In that round, the girls played fantastic team basketball with smothering defence, winning 59-34, 39-32 and took home the consolation championship with a 66-38 victory in the title game, capping off an amazing finish to a fabulous season.
Team members included Michelle Balingan, Kennedy Clarke, Chloe Columbus, Elle Crate, Megan Duffy, Ava Erskine, Kate Fletcher, Kaylan Jeffels, India Johnson, Riley Marwick, Caitlin McLaughlin, Mayson Parnell and Melanie Smith.
