By Michael Wojtychiw

Ogden International is becoming quite familiar with playing during the final week of the Chicago Public League girls basketball season.

Last year, the Owls made history by becoming the first team to win the Blue/White Championship, winning the title as the 16th and lowest seed in the bracket.

After going 8-1 in the Blue North/West this year, finishing in a first-place tie with Prosser, Ogden earned the fourth seed in the eight-team Consolation bracket as it looked to repeat as city champions.

After a quarterfinal win over Acero-Soto, all that stood between them and a date with conference foe Prosser for a chance at a repeat was familiar foe Mather, the team the Owls got through to make it to the finals the season before. And despite needing overtime, Ogden was able to do it again and set up a meeting with the Falcons on Tuesday, Feb. 6, for another tilt at UIC’s Credit Union 1 Arena.

And also like last season, the Owls would walk away with a city championship, outlasting their conference rivals 70-61 in overtime in a game much more high scoring than last year.

“At the beginning of the season, first practice, I told the girls ‘First things first, we need to get a conference championship,'” Ogden coach Simeon Henderson said. “We did that and then we were in a position to get here and it was a fight. But we got here.

“We played together, we pulled it together and we overcame. We had overtime in the last game and overtime this game, but our resilience and tenacity…simply being our best, that’s what got us over the top.”

The catalyst of this year’s title team was point guard Jazlyn Ortiz, a transfer from Clemente. Ortiz played all 36 minutes of the game and led the team with a game-high 30 points.

“My guards, between all of them, they kept their composure,” Henderson said. “Jazlyn hit some big threes, she went to the hole, got rebounds.”

A big part in the Owls getting back to the top of the mountain was cutting down their turnovers.

In the first quarter, the Falcons forced Ogden into 17 turnovers but shot only 21 percent, keeping the score at 15-9 after the first quarter. The Falcons were also able to get a number of Owls in foul trouble, as two Ogden players picked up three fouls each in the first five-and-a-half minutes of the game.

It was the second quarter when Ortiz – and the Owls – became alive, though. The guard would score 10 points in the period and the team would only commit three turnovers, helping it turn a 15-9 deficit after one quarter to a 31-30 lead at the half.

The second half actually mirrored the first, as Prosser forced Ogden into 11 turnovers and forced more of the Owls’ players into foul trouble. Going into the fourth quarter, the Owls had four players with four fouls each and had one player foul out, meaning the team would have to play more carefully in the final period, one in which it trailed 48-40 with eight minutes remaining.

The Owls cut down their turnovers yet again and outscored the Falcons 17-9 forcing the day’s first game into overtime.

It was all Owls after that, though as they outscored Prosser 13-4 as they went on to win the title.

D’Amonti Brigmon, who came back from knee surgery last month, added 17 points and Zydrea Childs had 10. Kalin Stanton had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead Prosser, while Chrishwanda Wright had 13 points and 17 rebounds, Kala Stanton 13 points and Myonnia Johnson 11 points.

Photos by Brandon Parker/OSA