The E.L. Crossley Cyclone finally got over the hump and did so in convincing fashion.

The Cyclone raced out to a 20-2 lead after one quarter en route to a 49-27 win over the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs to capture the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (SOSSA) senior girls AA basketball championship Thursday on their home court.

The Cyclone, who now advance to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships in North Bay next week, put an end to the Bulldogs three-year medal run at OFSAA that saw them earn AA bronze in 2023, AA gold in 2022 and AAA bronze in 2021.

“I’m ecstatic,” Crossley coach Aaron Belding said. “It was a good game.”

Crossley guard Leah Waselovich, who led her squad with 17 points, four rebounds, six assists and five blocks, was equally as giddy. 

“It feels amazing,” said Waselovich, a 16-year-old, Grade 11 student. “We just talked about keeping our intensity up, running what we’ve been practising all week. We’ve been preparing for this for a long time. So we just put everything we had out on the court. We just wanted to keep our intensity up.”

Belding said the quick start was by design.

“It was imperative that we got off to an early lead like that, especially after we played them in the BPSN finals,” he said. “They did the exact same thing to us then. We talked about, we have to come out and we have to set the tone, we have to set the intensity, and we have to score.

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