Royals open with girls’ A basketball win

The Lajeunesse Royals were dominant in opening the OFSAA girls’ basketball A championship in Timmins on Thursday with a win.

The No. 4-seeded Royals held No. 15 Timiskaming to two points in the opening quarter and built a double-digit lead at the half as the team cruised to a 50-32 openinggame win.

Jamilah Christian led the Royals with 18 points for Lajeunesse, which will face No. 13 University of Toronto Schools on Friday at 11:15 p.m. University of Toronto Schools opened with a 51-32 loss to No. 7 Notre Dame on Thursday.

SAINTS SPLIT

The St. Anne Saints split a pair of matches on Thursday to open pool play at the OFSAA boys’ AAA volleyball championship in Waterloo.

The No. 12-seeded Saints opened with a 2-1 win over No. 5 Hamilton St. Jean de Brebeuf. The Saints took the match by scores of 17-25, 25-23 and 15-12. However, St. Anne was swept by No. 18-ranked Harbord in two sets later in the day. Harbord took the match 25-23 and 25-21.

Looking for a top two finish in pool play to advance to the quarter-finals, St. Anne will face No. 2 Mississauga at 8:30 a.m. and No. 15 Innisdale at 11:30 a.m. on Friday.

LIONS SWEPT

The Leamington Lions dropped both matches on Thursday at the OFSAA boys’ AA volleyball championship in Brockville.

The youthful Lions lost 2-0 to No. 3 St. Catharines Eden by scores of 25-15 and 25-20 and then fell 2-0 again to No. 9 Saugeen by scores of 25-17 and 25-18.

The team will finish pool play on Friday against No. 14 Peterborough Adam Scott at 10 a.m. and No. 8 Nepean Franco West at 1 p.m. The club needs a top two finish in its pool to qualify for the quarterfinals.