OFSAA-bound Tigers fall to unrivalled Rebelles in basketball final

In a game where the Tigers were forced to go to tremendous lengths simply to get off a quality shot and Louis-Riel displayed its talents in every aspect of the game, the end result didn’t come as a big surprise to St. Matthew coach Rick Despatie.

“We had to hope for too many good things to happen in our favour and a lot of bad things in their favour,” noted Despatie, whose team had already assured itself an OFSAA berth thanks to a 43-28 semi-final victory over Hillcrest. “The bottom line is they’ve got a lot of provincial players and a national player, and well, we don’t.”

All the Rebelles’ biggest weapons were at their best for the city final. Three-point prowess, a lethal transition game off defensive steals, toughness and speed in the paint – they were all front-and-centre as Francesca Bellehumeur-Moya led the way with 19 points, followed closely by Micaella Riché with 17, and 18 from both Émilie Vachon and Kellie Ring, whose older brothers led St. Matthew to an OFSAA boys’ basketball title this past spring.

“It’s an all-star team,” Despatie said, saluting the product of the training put in at the sports-études school. “We can’t go across the city to get kids. We’ve got to get them from where we live, so that’s the difference.”

The Rebelles were simply unmatched by Ottawa-area opponents this year, leading many to discuss how they might stack up against the best city champions of all-time.

“It would be interesting if you could all those teams back in their prime and have a tournament,” Louis-Riel coach André Desjardins said, noting he can remember many great teams in past few decades from St. Matthew, Ashbury, St. Peter and Glebe. “It’s a different time, so it’s hard to say, but I’d say they’re as talented as any group that I’ve had the pleasure to watch over the years.”

The top four Rebelles scorers in the city final are all more than likely going to find their way onto NCAA Div. 1 teams next fall, which provided motivation for the group to accomplish something special while they are still together.

“It’ll never be the same, but we’ll always have Louis-Riel basketball,” Vachon said, noting the seniors are all great friends away from the court. “It’s not our first (championship), but I think it’s best one.”

Vachon, who will study nursing at Binghampton University on a full basketball scholarship next year, noted the team wants nothing less than a medal from the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations ‘AAA’ championships Nov. 26-28 in London, Ont. – a goal echoed by Desjardins.

“We have a sour taste in our mouth from last year’s fourth-place finish,” noted the coach who was hit by a spade of injuries at OFSAA 2008. “I think one of (the medals) are coming as long as we do what we did (on Tuesday), stay together and work hard.”

The Tigers, on the other hand, have “no idea” how they’ll stack up against other teams when they travel to Hamilton Nov. 26-28 for the ‘AAAA’ championships (for the largest-size schools in the province; Louis-Riel got to choose which level they wanted to attend based on the city title win).

“(Reaching) OFSAA was the goal of theirs at the beginning of the year, and we knew we could do it,” said Despatie, who emphasized the importance of every regular season game to his players in hopes of earning a spot on the opposite side of the playoff draw as Louis-Riel. “I’m proud of these guys anyways, regardless of the outcome or score.”