GUELPH – When the stakes are the highest, the emotion is that much greater. And every possession in a meaningful basketball game counts. The Guelph Gryphons women's team learned that lesson Wednesday night on its home court. The young Gryphons fell 72-68 to the Western Mustangs in a heartbreaking first-round OUA playoff matchup at the GGAC.
Guelph entered the postseason having won its last six games of the regular season, including a dramatic 85-76 win over those same Mustangs to clinch the fourth seed and a home playoff date. And for much of the night, the game unfolded the same as it did last Saturday. Guelph withstood an early Western barrage and took over in the second half.
But the script differed in the decisive fourth quarter. The Gryphons took a lead but had trouble making baskets down the stretch. And they compounded that by giving the basketball away at the most critical time, which ultimately put an abrupt end to a season filled with promise.
"I feel so frustrated for our girls," said head coach Mark Walton. "That's the poise that we've been talking about all year long. When you don't demonstrate it, good teams will take advantage."
Third-year guard Sarah Holmes led the Gryphons with 21 points, hitting several shots that helped the hosts keep pace with the red-hot Mustangs. Ashley Wheeler added 14, many coming late in the third and early in the fourth quarter as Guelph was battling to stay ahead. And rookie Burke Bechard had 12 points and 6 rebounds.
The game was there for the Gryphons. A Haley Belyk jumper put Guelph up 61-55 with 7:18 left in the fourth quarter. Holmes would add a big three-pointer, one of her five on the night, for a 64-58 lead. But Western manufactured a 7-0 run, capped by a Julia Curran jumper, to take the lead back with 2:15 remaining.
Guelph still had several chances, pressuring the Mustangs and coming up with key steals. 
Bechard crashed the boards and put back a reverse layup to give the hosts a 68-67 lead. But the Gryphons turned the ball over five times in the last minute alone as they were desperately trying to find a basket, while Western scored five straight points. Curran sunk two free throws with one second left on the clock to close it out.
Walton lamented the fact that the situation, with everything at stake, was new for many of the players.
"We didn't execute our offence and we turned the ball over for no apparent reason," the coach said. "Not getting that right at the end is a tough pill to swallow. That's part of the process. The young kids have to learn from it, plain and simple."
Guelph played with grit to hang with the hot-shooting Mustangs, who sank five of their first six three-point attempts. Julia Kokonis and Ivana Vujadinovic took over the offensive load in the third quarter, building on a Kokonis three-point buzzer-beater that sent the Gryphons into halftime down just 38-34.
Holmes was on fire early, scoring 12 of Guelph's 21 points in the first quarter. She played a team-high 37 minutes despite having to sit briefly with what looked like a tweaked ankle.
Rookie point guard Skyla Minaker had been plagued by shin splints and played just 14 minutes. She didn't enter the game until well into the second quarter.
Despite the pain etched on the faces of the players and coaches, Guelph's season was one to be proud of. The team turned a corner and forged an identity. Opponents don't typically enjoy a matchup with the ferocious Gryphons and the loss will only buoy future hopes for a young team that will unfortunately say goodbye to seniors Quincy Sickles-Jarvis, Megan Brenkel and Belyk.
Walton said he will miss the seniors. But the 2018/19 Gryphons should build on what they accomplished this season.
"Going forward, this young squad will learn to step up," Walton said.
