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"lt was a thrill," said O'Brien. who has also coached at the university level and called this one of Bur he also has a softer side, which was on display Saturday night after he won his first CWOSSA girls bas- ketball title in his 38 years of coaching with a 35-31 win over Brantford St. John's. An emotional O'Brien had to compose himself as he introduced a senior Celtics club that earned the veteran coach his First trip to OFSSA as a participant instead of a passenger. nyone who has ever Agnew St. David's girls asketball head coach Tom O'Brien knows how tough a Iaskmaster he is on the court. The Celtics Daniela Echeverria goes up for Westside on Friday. Celtics win first CWOSSA title BY Bore Vnmmc Waterloo Chronicle "lt's my first OFSAA and it's be really exciting," said O'Brien. "This has got the whole school buzzing. " The homecoun advan- tage came into play The Celtics haven't won a CWOSSA senior girls bas, ketball title in the school's history, and only won one junior title in 1975. And it's those two sides of O'Brien that had his team playing so hard for him in Saturday's close win over St. John's. "My voice cracked a little bit and I had to gather myself. It was really emo- tional and just great for the kids." the biggest wins in his coaching career. "I almost lost it when they called me up to introduce all my play- ers. Continued on page 30 a rebound against ROB VAN OHM"! FNOVO l Sr. Vikings make it four in a row "Two years ago we lost a tight one when they recov- ered an on-side kick against So they kept running and running until they could run no more in a 37-19 win in the WCSSAA A football finals, which included a last-minute field goal just to make sure. The Panthers had learned their lesson last time against Bluevale. and left no margin for another knights' come- back -. e Preston Panthers I didn't want a repeat of the last time they played the Bluevale Knights in the WCSSAA senior boys football final - a 19ti4 last- minute loss after the Water loo school recovered an on- side kick. Preston wins battle over Bluémxaig "We've got a couple of aches and pains we're trying to get healthy," said Vikings head coach Doug Ramon. who has been the architect of WCl's success since he came So how do you celebrate all that success? Well how about with a little rest as the Vikings have two weeks to prepare for the OFSSA Quad A senior girls championships being held in Hamilton start- ing Nov. 29. That followed the Vikings four straight WCSSAA titles with a 53-46 win over the Raiders again in last Wednes- day's WCSSAA finals. It was the Vikings eighth WCSSAA title in the last nine years. iltey earned their eighth trip to OF9's1 in the last nine years with a 53-50 win over the KCl Raiders at the CWOS- SA Quad A championship Saturday in Guelph. " was the Vikings seventh CWOSSA title in nine years and fourth Central hestern Ontario title in a row. asketlrull is a game of Bnumbers, and the numbers have been going the W(il Vikings way for most of the last decade. Be Boa Vnmmc Chmrticle Staff SRORTS th Bots VW ( 7mm“? Stuff The Preston Panthers' celebrated their' beating defending champs Bluevale 37 us,," said the Panthers start- Stadiu ing quarterback Kyle Greene year Vt after the game at University especiz W ated their first WCSSAA A senior boys title in three years after II...~..~I.. " inI‘AArA- I Stadium in Waterloo. "This seniors and year we wanted it so bad, here." especially since a lot of us are - 19 last Saturday etyw.vwwatedooxoG "they Vikings needed any help in knowing what kind of intensity level they'll need to compete at. they've learned about it in their two most recent meetings against the "The girls are really moti- vated. and really happy to be there; now it's just a matter of fine tuning some stuff and keeping them sharp." "We're not adding arty- thing" said Ramon. about his young club who only loses one player to graduation after this year. "We put some stuff in later in the year that we haven't utilizmt it a whole lot, and we need to perfect it. Si. Mary's of Kitchener." The question now is how Io stay sharp with a long lay- off. If experience is the teacher land Ramon has a lot of experience coaching at ()FSSA) its refining what's already working for the Vikings "l tried to rest her but I had to use her for sewn or eight minutes," said Ramon "it was nice I was able to resl her in our next game against St. Mary's of Kitchener." managed to gut it out enough ttt help the Vikingx II] a comeback win over Guelph Centennial ill their opening contest. cucx Hm ”Sign In t W 'trm-d firs Volswcga Wind“ Continued on page 32 Continued on page 27 we're out of