They swung back and forth at each other all season, exchanging rights and lefts and a few jabs to remind each other neither was backing down.

It was the Oak Park Raiders who dealt the final haymaker, a knockout blow that crowned them varsity girl’s provincial basketball champions for a fifth time in a 81-67 win over the Vincent Massey Trojans Monday night at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

“We went in not expecting it to be given to us and we earned every single moment of it,” Grade 12 guard Deidre Bartlett said.

Bartlett, named provincial MVP, was a force for the Raiders, playing all forty minutes — a formality in big games for her — while dictating the flow of Oak Park’s offence for much of the night. She paced the Raiders with 19 points, including five three-pointers.

Bartlett’s sister, Lauren played all but four seconds of the final, pitching in with 18 points, four assists and five rebounds.

Down low, forwards Jessica Dyck and Emily Johnson combined for 28 points and 20 rebounds.

“Our defence just didn’t seem to be there today, there seemed to be a few people missing,” Massey coach Stacy Hawash said.

The final battle between the two this season, in which the Raiders regained their No.1 high school ranking, didn’t disappoint.

Neither team shot particularly well out of the gate, with the Trojans faring worse, shooting just 10-for-45 at the half from the floor and predictably trailing on the scoreboard, 40-25.

With a chance to settle themselves at the half, the Trojans began the third frame on a 10-0 run, pulling the deficit back to five points.

After hitting 10 field goals in the first two quarters, Massey went 10-for-25 in the third and outscored the Raiders 21-16.

Trojans guard Niyah Becker had nine points in the quarter and totalled 19 at the time. The Grade 11 star finished with 32 points and 12 rebounds.

“We were kind of dead, no one rebounding, we weren’t really talking,” Becker said. “It’s just hard to kind of come back from that.”

They did, however, coming within four points with four minutes left in the game. As they had all night, Oak Park reigned themselves in down the stretch, capping off a competitive season between the two squads.

The Raiders cashed in on three of four meetings, including wins in two major tournaments and another in league play. It was the Trojans who spoiled a perfect record for the Raiders in conference play late in the year. Then the Raiders settled for third place in the city championship while watching the Trojans earn first-place honours.

“Every season, it doesn’t matter what the records are, once it’s Massey and Oak Park, it’s a war,” Raiders head coach Murray Brown said.

For the Raiders, getting the final say was just that much sweeter.

“They killed us in that game they beat us,” Lauren said about their 89-45 loss back in February. “It’s always about the last game though, that’s what’s really important.”

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