CDDHS hosts CWOSSA senior basketball competition

March 2, 2023 · 0 Comments

Written By Brian Lockhart

Centre Dufferin District High School played host to the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association senior boys AA basketball competition on Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25.

The event brought eight District champions teams to compete for the title and an opportunity to move on to provincial competition at OFSSA.

The CDDHS Royals earned the right to go to CWOSSA after going undefeated and winning the District 4 championship.

The Royals played their first game of the day against the St. David Celtics from Waterloo.

St. David managed to pull out ahead by 16 points, leading 37-21 at the half.

The Royals battled back and were within three points late in the fourth quarter, but the Celtics hit a three-pointer, then stayed ahead for a 61-56 win.

The schedule then required the Royals to go up against the team from Gault
Collegiate.

That game resulted in a 63-50 loss for the Royals, and they were eliminated from the competition.

It was a good experience for all the teams involved. As championship teams, it gave them a chance to go up against other top teams and really put their skills to the test, as none of the teams met during District competition during the season.

“It’s a big deal for us, especially since we are hosting,” said Royal’s player Savian Gordon-Stephens of competing at the regional level. “This is a new experience for us.”

Going up against other top teams means the Royals had to compensate on the court to match the other team.

“We have to communicate more because chasing your man and getting fouls isn’t going to help us when it gets to these close type of games,” Savian said. “When it’s crunch time, we could be in foul trouble and we should be able to have some energy and just hit our shots. We need to play as a team.”

In the final game, Our Lady of Lourdes from Guelph came out on top with a 64-63 win over McKinnon Park Secondary School from Caledonia and will go on to represent the region at OFSSA.