BRAMPTON, Ont. (March 7) -- Perhaps the most startling fact about the spectacular ascent to the top of the Ontario basketball mountain for the Sheridan Bruins women's basketball team is that five years ago they weren't even a competing member of the OCAA. Now they are an indelible piece of its history, claiming their second consecutive Ontario crown with a 75-65 triumph over Seneca in the championship game of the 2009 Belair Direct OCAA Women's Basketball Championship.

"It feels great, I mean we worked so hard trying to build a team that was going to be able to compete at the provincial level and low and behold we ended up being able to compete at the national level," head coach Shane Bascoe said. "Seneca, they (won the OCAA Championship) two years in a row, I tip my hat to them; they're a great team, they work extremely hard and we did the exact same thing. It's a good feeling, the girls worked hard for it and that's why we won."

With a packed house, the intensity and atmosphere was cranked to its maximum as the game started with each team jockeying for position and trading baskets. A Seneca 9-0 run (with Ashley Docking scoring all nine points) midway through the first half gave the Sting a 23-15 lead. It would be their last lead of the contest though, as the Lady Bruins responded with a 13-0 run, propelling them to a 35-28 lead at the half.

Bascoe says that the back and forth nature - especially in the first half - is just a part of the normal ebbs and flows of the sport

"Basketball's a game of runs, but I thought that we did a subpar job of stopping what they were doing well, which was beating us back in transition," he said. "I didn't think it was so much their half court stuff, I thought they just pushed the ball down the floor and we did an awful job in transition, so I guess that gives us something to work on in practice."

In the second half Seneca gave the defending champions everything they could handle, constantly battling back and even pulling within two. Undaunted though the Lady Bruins stayed poised and, more importantly, converted 14 of their 18 free throw attempts down the stretch.

Sarah Moxley, who was playing her last game as a Sheridan Bruin on the floor in Brampton, was named the tournament MVP and says that even more than the emotion of the victory she was overcome by the thought that she won’t have occasion to compete in that gym anymore.

"I’m in shock still, not because we won, but because it's over," she said. "Now we'll go to nationals and represent there too. I'm just going to miss everything about being here."

The team will now travel to Ste-Foy in Quebec City in two weeks for the CCAA National Championship and Bascoe is hoping the experience they gained at the tournament last year (where they finished in fourth place) will pay dividends this year.

"Last year we had an opportunity and our inexperience took over," he said. "It left a bitter taste in their mouth and I think the girls really want to prove that they belong nationally."