THUNDER BAY – Don’t tell the Hammarskjold Vikings they’re the underdog – they simply won’t believe you.
Yeah, the St. Ignatius Falcons ran the table during the regular season, finishing 12-0, including three wins – albeit relatively close contests – over the Vikings.
When the Falcons jumped in front by double digits in the second quarter on Thursday night in the senior girls basketball final, it felt like the script may already have been written.
The Vikings, however, made a few changes to the script along the way.
Keira Chow put up a game-high 30 points and Sara Clouthier dropped 17 as Hammarskjold battled back in the second half and scored the upset of the season, downing the home-court favourite Falcons 63-57 to capture their sixth title in the past nine SSSAA seasons.
Chow, with tears of joy running down her face, said the win makes up for a 10-point loss to the Falcons in last year’s championship.
“After last year, when St. Ignatius beat us in the final, it hurt us pretty hard,” the 17-year-old said. “I think we all wanted to come back and take the win. A lot of people were doubting that we could, because of our first three games against them, but we worked really hard all season. I’m just really proud of them.”
Chow, who plans to return for a victory lap season in 2023, said she and her Vikings teammates were convinced they were the team of destiny, and regardless of the score on Thursday, never took their eye off the ultimate goal.
“I think we’re good at remaining calm in tough situations and we knew that it would be up and down this whole game and it would be a rough game, but I think we just maintained our composure, stayed calm and we trusted each other, we trusted we’d be able to come back.”
The Vikings opened the game strong, building an 8-2 lead in the first, but were unable to hold it as St. Ignatius star Agot Makeer took control, scoring eight straight points to put the Falcons back on top 10-8. She’d finish with 12 in the quarter and 24 in the game – but just eight in the second half.
St. Ignatius went on a 7-0 run in the second to jump in front by 11, but Chow kept it close, burying from distance and hitting another bucket.
Hammarskjold closed the half on an 8-3 run and trailed 32-28 after 20 minutes.
The Vikings retook the lead three minutes into the third when Kate Clouthier nailed a three-pointer, a clear signal the Falcons would have to fight to engrave their name of the trophy for a second straight campaign.
The two teams played back-and-forth basketball for the rest of the quarter, with St. Ignatius, who outscored their opponents clinging to a 43-41 lead when all was said and done.
Hammarskjold took the lead for good in the midst of a 9-0, fourth-quarter run, when Ainsley Pare hit the first of two free throws, a run capped by a Sara Clouthier three-pointer with less than two minutes to play, the Vikings leading 58-52.
“It was definitely a team effort,” said Clouthier, who celebrated the win with teammates and sisters Kate and Kirsten.
“We’ve been talking about that all season, about how it’s going to take everyone and everyone has to do their role and everyone showed up tonight and I think that’s why we won.”
The Falcons didn’t help themselves in the fourth, landing in the penalty with three-and-a-half minutes to go, which sent the Vikings to the charity stripe in the crucial late stages of the contest.
“I’m so incredibly proud of the season we had, but obviously it didn’t play out the way we wanted it to,” said St. Ignatius coach Lindsey Wachter.
“It was incredible work by them to continue pushing and not get their heads down. Getting in foul trouble made it difficult for us at the end.”
Hammarskjold will play in the NWOSSA ‘AA’ girls basketball championship on Nov. 18 and Nov. 19 at home, with a chance to head to OFSAA in Stratford, Ont. starting Nov. 24.
St. Patrick won the junior girls final, 38-35 over St. Ignatius.
