By Larry Moko
It's been a tradition of excellence for Hamilton girls' high school basketball teams at OFSAA championships since the very beginning in 1975. And this week, in Brampton, the St. Thomas More Knights hope to keep the ball rolling.
Excluding the COVID-19 shutdown season of 2020, Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic Athletic Association teams have captured top provincial AAA honours in the sport for the past four consecutive years -- Cathedral Gaels from 2021-23 and St. Thomas More in 2019.
The Knights enter the Nov. 21-23 competition ranked fifth in a field of 16.
"We were hoping for maybe a fourth seed, but I feel our seeding was pretty accurate and our schedule was fair," More coach Ralph Bozzo said. "It's definitely a competitive draw."
More's opening game is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday against the Lo-Ellen Park Knights of Sudbury (15th seed).
"I don't know anything about Lo-Ellen," Bozzo said. "We've never faced them at any tournament. OFSAA is the best of the best, so we don't take anybody lightly. And we don't look beyond our first game."
If More wins its opening start, the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference champions will face the loser of the first-round match between Toronto's Lawrence Park Panthers (6) and the Maple Ridge Ravens (2) of Barrie.
"There's going to be a lot of new faces for us in this tournament," the veteran More junior and senior coach said. "That's what makes it great. You don't face the same teams you've faced all season. Everybody is so good. You have to be at your best game in and game out."
Bozzo was with the Knights when they last won OFSAA gold five years ago in Mississauga.
"I was an assistant at that time," he recalled. "My assistant now (Tania DiCampli) was the head coach. We had swapped for that one for various reasons.
"We coach more as a co-coach team rather than a head coach and an assistant. We've had the experience of being at the OFSAA tournament, so we know what to expect."
There will be one slight difference this year, however.
"Last time we were ranked the No. 1 team," Bozzo said. "We had a great team, we won gold and it was a great year. So we've got some work to do."
The Mother Teresa Spartans of London are ranked. No 1. Said Bozzo: "They are 30-1 and have won the most major tournaments this year. They are definitely the right choice to be No. 1. They have a very well balanced attack in their starting five. When you try to shut down one, somebody else steps up. They've got the complete package."
Other teams taking part will be Holy Names (Windsor), Assumption (Brantford), Pickering (Pickering), Holy Cross (Kingston), St. Roch (Brampton), Notre Dame (Welland), Westmount (Thornhill), South Carleton (Richmond), Adam Scott (Peterborough) and Castlebrooke (Brampton).
Games will be played at Castlebrooke and Jean Augustine secondary schools.
More's roster is comprised of Katarina DiSabatino, Milania Bozzo, Savannah Gallea, Adrianna Stocco, Gabriella Mazzuca, Julia Bonitatibus, Izzy Moro, Cara Luang-Asa and Caitlin Connolly.
The Knights also won consecutive OFSAA titles from 2011-13 when the governing body formed a AAAA division. In addition, they brought home a championship banner in 2004.
The first five years of OFSAA tournaments went to Ancaster twice and to the Bishop Ryan Celtics three times.