With two team leaders playing injured, the Parkside Panthers topped St. Michaels of Niagara Falls 61-48 to grab one of two Southern Ontario Secondary School Athletics berths in the Ontario Federation of School Athletics tournament, set to begin March 8 in Windsor.

Both Quinn Henderson, who missed the city final, and Kyle Giedraitis, who saw limited playing time in the loss to Orchard Park in the Hamilton high school championship, played with ankle injuries in the SOSSA game.

Coach Dan Meyer said although Henderson and Giedraitis weren’t at their best, it was important to the rest of the team to have them on the court.

“They were able to play without pain, but did not have their usual quickness or strength,” Meyer said.

Forward Justin Johnson scored 12 points in the first half last week to help Parkside get out to a 35-20 lead by halftime.

The win clinched a spot at OFSAA, but Parkside moved on to the SOSSA final game which they dropped 60-49.

This week, in preparation for the provincial finals, Meyer and his coaching staff will review defensive principles and communication with the team in an effort to get them back to the level they were at when the month of February started. The final month of the season was a difficult one for the team.

“We suffered four ankle injuries within the span of a week and along with having a depleted roster in games, we have also not been able to practice as normal,” Meyer said.

“All that said, we are very excited to have qualified. There is no better event than OFSAA in high school athletics.”

Parkside returns to the prestigious event where they stumbled late last year to drop into the bronze medal game, but won that match-up to take third place.

This year mark’s the Dundas high school’s 50th anniversary. Basketball has long been an athletic highlight at the secondary school next to the Dundas Driving Park.

Parkside has won the AA Ontario championship title twice, in 1974 and 1987.

Last year, Parkside won three straight games to reach the final four, then dropped the semi-final match to move into the third place game, which they won .

The bronze medal win was an improvement over Parkside’s 2008 finish at the provincial championship, where they won two straight but fell in the quarter-finals.

Check the Dundas Star News, and the Dundas Sports Central results centre at www.dundasstarnews.com for regular updates on Parkside’s OFSAA quest.