HUMBER 61, MOHAWK 46

TORONTO - The house was packed in anticipation of what was billed as the game of the year. It was a true championship affair where the game went back and forth until Humber broke the deadlock.

The Hawks drew first blood in the gold medal game at the belairdirect OCAA Women's Basketball Championship. Mohawk answered back and was determined not to be outscored. Both teams traded points until the game was tied 6-6. The Mountaineers ended the first quarter up 11-9.

They continued to trade points with the Hawks pulling ahead up 29-26 at the half. The points were spread across both teams. At halftime Mohawk's Careena Browne (Hamilton, Ont.) had six points as did Humber's Mary Asare (Brampton, Ont.) and Atissa Cronk (Kingston, Ont.).

It was not until the third quarter that the game broke open. Humber dominated the period outscoring the Mountaineers by 12 points. Cronk managed the boards and Aleena Domingo (Toronto) was the dominant scorer.

Domingo was heavily considered for most valuable player. Ultimately, however it was Asare who had 11 points and was named the championship MVP. Asare was asked time and time again to shut down the opponent's big shooters. She managed to do her job on Mohawk's JenJen Abella (Hamilton, Ont.) in the game that counted most.

Abella was dominant in the game until the eighth minute of the third quarter when she collided with Asare and was taken out of the game. The Mountaineers never really recovered. Her lack of presence was felt until she came back into the game in the fourth quarter scoring five more. No one else stepped up from Mohawk to fill the gap. Humber ended up running away with the third quarter scoring 18 points to Mohawk's four.

With seven minutes to go the Mountaineers climbed their way back into the game and were down by only seven points, 47-40. It was at that point the game turned as Abella turned her ankle and was out of the game for good. Humber managed to score 17 more points in the final quarter while Mohawk put up 13. Abella ended up as the Mountaineers high scorer with 10 points.

Domingo finished as the game's high scorer with 13. Cronk and Ceejay Nofuente (Toronto) of Humber and Abella and Jakayla Douse (Hamilton, Ont.) of Mohawk were named championship all-stars.

Humber advances to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Women's Basketball National Championship, taking place in Nanaimo, B.C., from March 19-21.

Source: Centennial College