The championship games for the 2023 Canadian Interuniversity Sport Basketball Championships were played on Sunday. In the women’s final from the Sullivan Field House in Sydney, Nova Scotia, the Carleton University Ravens defeated the Queen’s University Golden Gaels 71-59. In the men’s final from the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Ravens beat the St. Francis Xavier XMen 109-104 in double overtime.
This was the first time that the same university won the men’s and women’s basketball championships in the same year since 1985. Thirty-eight years ago the University of Victoria Vikes beat the University of Waterloo Warriors in the CIS men’s basketball championship 93-79 in Halifax, and the Vikes beat the Laurentian University Lady Vees 71-52 in the CIS women’s basketball championship in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
The 213 points scored between the Ravens and XMen were the most points ever scored in the history of the CIS Men’s Final Eight Basketball Tournament. The previous record was 210 points in a 109-101 Ryerson Rams overtime win over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds win in Vancouver, British Columbia. This game occurred in the quarterfinals.
On Sunday, it was a remarkable comeback by the Ravens in the men’s final. They were once down by 23 points (46-23) before outscoring the XMen 86-58 the rest of the way. All starters for the Ravens reached double figures in points. Point guard Wazir Latiff of Toronto, Ontario, guard Aiden Warnholtz of Ottawa, Ontario, and guard Connor Vreeken of Kingston, Ontario all had 23 points. Forward Elliot Bailey had 21 points, while forward Grant Shephard of Kelowna, British Columbia had 17 points. Shephard and Warnholtz each had double doubles. Shephard had 12 rebounds and Warnholtz had 11 assists.
In the women’s final, four Ravens reached double digits in scoring. Guard Kali Pocrnic of Oakville, Ontario had 20 points. guard Teresa Donato of Ottawa had 14 points (off the bench), guard Dorcas Buisa of Gatineau, Quebec had 12 points and Emma Kiesekamp of Merrickville, Ontario had 11 points. Keisekamp had a double double as she added 10 rebounds.
This was the 17th W.P. McGree Trophy for Carleton (presented to the Canadian university men’s basketball champions). They previously won five straight years from 2003 to 2007, in 2009, seven straight years from 2011 to 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2022. This was the second Bronze Baby for Carleton (presented to the Canadian university women’s basketball champions). They previously won in 2018 by a score of 69-48 over the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in Regina.
