College rock stars
Niagara College women win gold, men take bronze at Ontario curling championships
Niagara defeated Fanshawe 10-7 in an extra end to win the gold medal in the women’s flight at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championships.
Fanshawe forced an extra end with three straight singles, but the Knights – skip Chelsea, Beamsville; vice Courtney Smith, St. Catharines; second Renee Boyce, St. Catharines; lead Brooke Fairbanks, Thorold; lead Andrea Miettinen, Welland – were flawless in the final frame.
Niagara scored three to win its fourth provincial curling championship and first since 2013.
Brandwood, a Grimsby Secondary School graduate, made the first all-star team, and Boyce, a Governor Simcoe alum, was selected to the second team.
The Niagara men’s team – skip Sam Steep, Seaforth; vice Tyler Marshall, McDougall, Ont.; second Ethan Doig, Egmondville, Ont.; lead David Cressman, Cobourg – edged Humber 8-6 to win bronze.
The medal is Niagara’s first in men’s curling since 2011.
With the top-three finishes, the men’s and women’s rinks from the region’s community college qualified to compete at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association championships taking place March 24-28 in Leduc, Alta.
Winning weekend
The Niagara Knights had a winning weekend on the road in women’s college basketball.
They defeated Lambton 76-49 Saturday in Sarnia and St. Clair 8073 the following day in Windsor to improve to 12-6 with two games remaining in the regular season.
St. Catharines native and Governor Simcoe graduate Mary Ingribelli, with a game-high 26 points, 11 rebounds; and Brooke Cesar of Brantford, 11 points, reached double digits in scoring against Lambton.
Ingribelli, 33 points, 10 rebounds; Cesar, 18 points; and Fonthill native and Notre Dame alum Courtney Kilyk, 11 points, were standouts in the victory over St. Clair.
“It was a huge win for our program and positions us well for the playoffs, if we close the season strong,” Knights head coach Mike Beccaria said after the St. Clair game.
Niagara closes out the regular season with back-to-back home games Friday, 6 p.m., and Saturday, 1 p.m., against Sault College.
Split on road
The Niagara Knights men’s basketball team split a weekend road trip with a victory over Lambton followed by a loss to St. Clair.
Fourth-year guard Levi Mukuna scored a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Niagara a 81-79 win against Lambton. He led all scorers with 30 points and came down with eight rebounds.
Third-year forward Jordan Wilson netted 14 of his 21 points for the Knights in the second half.
Mukuna finished the game against St. Clair with 26 points and eight rebounds, but this time it was the hosts who netted a last-second bucket coming away with an 88-86 victory.
“We came out sluggish today after an emotional game yesterday and just didn’t play hard enough for a game of this importance,” head coach Mike Hurley said after a “disappointing loss” that dropped his team to 11-7.
Niagara hosts the Sault Cougars 8 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday to wrap up the regular season.
Victorious season finale
Jordan Koslowski had eight kills and Rachel Rivers six, and Niagara swept Redeemer to finish the women’s college volleyball regular season on a winning.
Niagara improved to 11-7 with the homecourt victory. Set scores were 25-12, 25-22, 25-15.
“With the league as good as it is, and such a young team, I’m proud of our steady improvement in play and hope to see that continue in our playoff run,” Knights head coach Nathan Janzen said.
Rivers, with 13 kills, and Koslowski, 12, also provided the 1-2 punch on offence in a four-set loss to Fanshawe earlier in the week.
Set scores in the Grad Night game at the Athletic Centre in Welland were 25-12, 19-25, 20-25 and 2325.
Graduating veterans Amy Bultje, Chatham; Nicole Chiesa, Thorold; Shayna Graham, Welland; Koslowski, Hamilton; and Rivers, Cambridge; were honoured prior to the opening serve.
Split decision
Niagara rebounded from a 3-0 loss to Fanshawe with a 3-1 victory over Redeemer to end the men’s volleyball season fourth in the West Division with a 10-8 record.
Tristan Swinden led the Knights with 13 points in the win against Redeemer – 25-18, 25-19, 20-25, 25-23.
“The win let’s us host a playoff game next weekend and we got to experience as close to a must-win game as we can,” head coach Nathan Groenveld said.
“I thought we did a good job dictating play last night and really made Redeemer earn every point.”
Niagara standouts in the loss – 2518, 25-7, 26-24 – were second-year middle blocker Jacob Williamson, with seven kills; and rookie libero Robert Zalewski, 10 digs.
Aiden Atkinson, Ingersoll; Kyle Thiessen, St. Catharines; Swinden, Whitby; and Williamson, St. Catharines; were honoured before the Grad Night game versus Fanshawe.