Jr. Titans Capture 4th Consecutive Title
By Larry Moko
There's lots to like about this season's Bishop Tonnos junior girls' high school basketball team.
The Titans excelled in all facets of the game en route to going undefeated (14-0) and capturing a fourth-consecutive Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic championship.
Tonnos took the 2025 title Tuesday with an 86-31 decision over the visiting St. Mary Crusaders.
Steve Maga, who has coached throughout BT's run of success, says what stands out to him about the current squad is its overall lineup depth.
"What I think I'll remember most is the depth," Maga said. "Just the number of players that we could bring in and out.
"There's some basketball players that don't get a lot of time on our team. Fortunately, we were good enough that everybody could play every game."
The BT roster was comprised of 14 players and Maga points out that the rotation could go 10 deep and still be effective.
How dominant were the Titans? They scored a total of 977 points this season, while allowing only 329.
In the final against second-place St. Mary, Tonnos got 15 points by Adriann Tecu and 13 apiece by Kristen Di Pietro and Linaea Maga. Payton Turkstra chipped in with 12, while Maya Turkstra and Hanna te Boekhhorst added nine and six, respectively.
For St. Mary, which trailed 22-10, 43-14 and 68-18 at the quarter breaks, the leading scorers were Jordan Gard, with 19, and Lily Girard, with six.
"Our guards run for days," the BT coach said. "We wear teams down with our full-court offence and defence."
Early in the contest against the Crusaders, the Titans lead was only 8-6 before Linaea Maga provided an offensive spark.
"She was huge for us," Linaea's father, Steve, said. "We were struggling to score until she hit three 3s (in the first quarter) to give us a buffer and the momentum."
A former all-star guard for the McMaster University Marauders, Maga said the Titans are able to rotate and cause havoc on the defensive end. And that allows BT to get to the open court and make layups.
"I always thought the team that makes the most layups is going to win most, if not all, of the time," he said. "That's pretty much at any level."
There were other strengths to the team, too. Said Maga: "We were able to shoot the 3 fairly well at different times from different people. And, ultimately, they are coachable kids that can learn some systems and nuances and apply it to the game."
Other BT players included Zain Qudaimat, Alli Mai Haalstra, Ella Sergi, Salma Hakimi, Alina Gojacic, Chloe Owatta and Alina Finochio.
Maga, incidentally, also coached the Titans to a silver medal five years ago when his other daughter, Avaya, was on the team. Avaya is currently playing for the University of Oklahoma Sooners on a volleyball scholarship.
"He's so important," Linaea said of her dad's guidance. "He helps me all the time.
"You've got to believe in yourself, have confidence and go out there and play your best."
Lineaea still plays club volleyball for the Halton Hurricanes, following on the same path her setter sister took in the sport.
"She's doing great," Linaea said. "We went to visit her for Thanksgiving. She just got named Co-Freshman of the Week in the Southeastern Conference."
Recent junior quarter-final results were: St. Mary 70 Brebeuf 19; St. Thomas More 45 Bishop Ryan 30; St. John Henry Newman 33 Cathedral 31. Semifinals saw Tonnos down Newman 83-38 and St. Mary defeat More, 62-47.
BT won top honours in both the junior and senior girls' divisions for the first time in school history.
Tonnos juniors have not tasted defeat in the past four years.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
More photos on HWCDSB Athletics Facebook page
