The Humber Hawks advanced to the OCAA women’s basketball semi-final with a 90-81 win over the St. Clair Saints. The Hawks took the first step towards defending their OCAA gold medal from a year ago. 

The Hawks and Saints were knotted up at 24 apiece following a frenetic first quarter. However the top seeded team from Humber would pull away in the second, outscoring St. Clair 27-14 to take a 51-38 lead into the break. OCAA Player of the Year Ceejay Nofuente posted a blistering 24 points in the games’ opening half.

Humber would extend the lead to as many as 19 at the end of the third quarter. The Saints would slowly claw back in the fourth quarter, reducing the deficit to as little as nine. However, it would be too little too late as the Hawks closed out the nine point victory to move on to the semi-final.

Nofuente led the way for the Hawks, earning player of the game honours. She recorded 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and five steals. Llyandra Kerr contributed 26 points and eight rebounds. The Hawks also had three other players reach double digit scoring; Natalie Hagopian recorded 17 points, Atissa Cronk scored 11, and Jill Semple added 10. Semple also recorded 10 rebounds to complete the double-double.

Shannon Kennedy led the way for St. Clair, recording 23 points and six rebounds. The OCAA Second-Team All-Star earned player of the game honours for the Saints. St. Clair also received double-digit performances from Jaide Lyons with 16 points, while Nicole Tamm and Sarah Bondy each recorded 14. 

Humber now awaits the winner of the quarterfinal between the St. Lawrence-Kingston Vikings and Fanshawe Falcons at 6:00pm. The Saints will take on the loser of the same matchup in tomorrow’s consolation semi-final at 1:00pm. All games can be viewed live at goknights.ca/watchlive.