By Larry Moko
The St. John Henry Newman Cardinals showed they meant business right from the outset of their senior girls' high school basketball semifinal Monday.
Despite two regular-season losses in as many outings against the second-place Cathedral Gaels, the visitors from Newman confidently jumped out to an 11-0 lead in their third match-up.
After that initial one-sided spurt, it turned into an intense, evenly-played game won 52-49 by the third-place Cardinals.
As a result, Newman moves on to face the undefeated Bishop Tonnos Titans for the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic championship on Nov. 11. Tonnos earned its berth with a 54-41 decision over the fourth-place St. Thomas More Knights.
"I guess you could say it was an upset because they beat us twice during the regular season," Newman coach Roy Milutinovic said. "But every team gets better and we're finally healthy. This was our second game with a full squad.
"It was a 50-50 game. Either team could have won."
Point-guard Myah Ragona paced the Cardinals attack with 16 points. Grace MacDonald added 15 and centre Amy Jennings chipped in with 11.
For Cathedral, Ellaiva DeCosta tossed in 21 points and Lauren Daly added 11.
"Playing as a team at both ends of the court made a big impact," Ragona said. "The coaches are happy and we're all happy."
Milutinovic said the Cardinals performed well defensively, didn't turn the ball over much and attacked the rim effectively.
"Myah was quite good at using screens by Amy to get to the rim a lot," he said. "And I don't know how many blocks Amy had, but I'd say it was eight in the game.
"We usually hit more threes, but we didn't take a lot. We were going more to the basket."
Cathedral led by eight points early in the fourth quarter. Newman inched closer, however, and finally pulled ahead to stay on a driving layup by Ragona which made the score 48-47.
"In the last quarter they got a few rebounds on us that we couldn't afford to give up," Gaels coach Kevin Daly said. "On two of those possessions they got five points on those. In a three-point game, two missed rebounds can cost you the game.
"We lost to a great team. It was a coin flip the whole way. They won the coin flip, so good on them."
Under Daly's guidance, Cathedral has won three OFSAA gold medals in the past five years. This season's lineup included two veterans of those provincial championship squads -- Lauren Daly and Mekeelah Dillon.
"I thought No. 11 (Ragona) really hurt us," Daly added. "She did a great job when we were trying to over-guard the two Graces (starters Grace MacDonald and Grace Fleming)."
According to Daly, DeCosta was impressively "all over the floor" during her 21-point effort.
"Ellaiva is coming off a month-long injury," the Gaels coach said. "She sprained her ankle pretty badly and this was really her first game back.
"It didn't look like it, but she was in pain. She's a fighter, though. She played great. I told her that personally. She hustled and gave it her all. All the players did."
The next opponent for Newman -- the Titans -- also swept the home-and-home series over the Cardinals. Said Ragona: "I think with the right mindset we can beat them."
The lone quarter-final result in this year's five-team league saw More top the Bishop Ryan Celtics, 72-24.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
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