After suffering an injury that kept her on the sidelines for much of the season, a Brock Township teen returned to the court to help her team to a provincial college basketball championship.
Now, Cannington native Jaime Gordon and her fellow Humber Hawks have their sights set on winning a national title.
The squad touched down in New Brunswick on Tuesday (March 13) for the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association championships, which run from March 15 to 18 at Mount Allison University.
Gordon, who is in her first year with the team after graduating from Brock High School last summer, suffered a shoulder injury just eight games in.
“Unfortunately, I suffered a bad hit at the end of November that required myself getting pulled from lineup to heal my right shoulder,” Gordon said.
“It was a tough three months but I cheered my team on throughout the season.
And what a season it was. Humber posted a perfect 20-0 record through the regular season and set a new Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) record for consecutive conference wins (which now sits at 78).
The team’s last loss came in November of 2014. Since then, its average margin of victory has been 32 points.
In short, Humber has been a powerhouse.
“My team finished with exceptional stats. We doubled all of our opponent’s stats throughout the regular season, finishing with 1,899 points scored, 391 steals, 469 assists and 1,186 rebounds,” Gordon said.
Not content with sitting out the season, Gordon worked hard to rehab her injury and return to the court in time for the OCAA tournament earlier this month.
Humber opened with a dominant 82-37 win over St. Clair before dispatching Mohawk by a 91-65 score to book a spot in the finals, where they beat Fanshawe 69-54 to claim the school’s fourth straight OCAA title.
“It was amazing to play alongside my teammates as we fought and won gold,” Gordon said.
Not surprisingly, Humber is the top seed heading into the national championship. The team will open the eight-team tournament against the Mount St. Vincent University (MSVU) Mystics of Nova Scotia today (March 15) at noon.
The winner will advance to the semifinal round and play the winner of the Montmorency/St. Mary’s game tomorrow (Mar. 16) at 5 p.m.
