St. Patrick's High School will host the OFSAA girls' basketball AAA championship this week.
The number two seeded Fighting Irish are set to face 12th ranked Richmond South Carleton at 9 a.m. Thursday.
The winner of that contest will play at 3 p.m. at Lambton College, while the loser will suit up again at 3 p.m. at St. Patrick’s.
Head Coach Maggie Mullen said there's an exciting atmosphere around the team.
"The girls are really, really pumped," said Mullen. "We've got a really good team this year, obviously, with us being seeded second. We're just excited that everybody gets to see that we earned that spot. We do get the automatic bid to OFSAA, but to say that we worked hard and earned our spot is really special."
Mullen said they have a strong team with a lot of depth.
"We've had a lot of depth for a while, that's kind of what our MO is," she said. "We can go 10 or 11 deep and not feel any ripples in our play.
Mullen said Taya Willemsen is one of the standout players this year.
She's in Grade 9, standing at 6' 4''.
"She's having an amazing season," said Mullen. "In the SWOSSAA final she got a triple double with 25 points over 10 rebounds and 10 blocks. She's averaging about 15 points per game."
Mullen also praised the leadership of captain Taryn Stoukas, who she called a "rock" on the defensive end of the ball.
Games are also scheduled between 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Friday at both venues.
The bronze medal matchup will be on Saturday at noon and the championship contest will be held Friday at 2 p.m.
Both will be at Lambton College.
St. Anne's Catholic High School out of Belle River is the only other SWOSSAA-based school competing in the 16 team event.
There's a fee to go and watch the games.
It's $20 for a tournament pass, $10 for a day pass, and $5 for a single game ticket.
