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Stamps WOSSAA basketball champs
Parkside defeats their cross town rivals St. Joe's in junior girls AA final
November 17, 2023
By Rob J. Ross
LONDON, Ont. - No one could stop the Parkside Stampeders.
Parkside completed a 13-0 run this season dumping their cross town rivals St. Joseph's Rams, 61-23, in the WOSSAA double-A junior girls basketball gold medal game, November 15 at South Collegiate.
The final was a rematch of the TVRA double-A title clash a week earlier, that Parkside won 49-28.
"We just wanted to come out hot and with a lot of energy," said Parkside coach Tara Collier, who along with coach Lisa Howey, are former Stampeders. "We were changing up our style of offence based on the type of defense that they were playing against us and the girls were versatile in making those changes."
Parkside jumped out to a 14-5 lead one quarter into the 32 minute game and were in control by halftime, 25-11.
Kerris Moore led the Stampeders with 15 points, while Blaire Dawdy had 13 and Kennedy Lawrence, 12.
"It's a very good start to my first year of high school," Moore said. "We all knew what we wanted and we knew if we had fun, worked hard and communicated, then it would work."
Jayla Oum scored 15 points for St. Joe's.
In the semifinals, Parkside routed Stratford St. Mike's, 65-21, while St. Joe's got by London Oakridge, 49-38.
During the regular season, the Stampeders galloped through the schedule, with a 8-0 record, outscoring opponents, 314 to 118. Their dominance continued in the playoffs winning each of their three game by at least 20 points.
Parkside finishes the 2023 girls season at 17-2 overall, their two losses coming at tournaments.
"We have some really athletic girls that are leaders on and off the court," Collier said. "They never got down on themselves. There was never a point in our season when the girls got down and couldn't get back out of it."
Oakridge took home WOSSAA bronze, taking care of St. Mike's, 37-26.
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