Saint Francis rebounds to win bronze medal
Eden earns antique bronze, Brebeuf takes consolation title
Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) championships in boys basketball were all about rebounding from losses for two teams from the Niagara region.
The Saint Francis Phoenix from St. Catharines came back to win the bronze medal after losing in the semifinal round at the double-A championship in Ottawa, while the host Saint-Jean-de-Brebeuf Lynx went 3-0 – each of their victories over a higher seed – after opening the single-A championship in Welland with two losses.
Another medal hopeful from St. Catharines, the Eden Flyers, returned home from provincials in triple-A boys high school hoop in Ancaster with antique bronze after suffering a two-point setback in the third-place final.
On Monday, Saint Francis, which was seeking its second Ontario championship in a row and the program’s third since 2015, lived up to its billing as the top seed at the 20-team tournament in the nation’s capital with a 62-50 victory over 19th-seeded Westgate from Thunder Bay. Jack Ciocca paced the Phoenix with a game-high 17 points.
Andrew Ens led Saint Francis with 25 points, also a game-high, in a 75-70 victory over 11th-seeded McKinnon Park from Caledonia the following night to send the Phoenix to the semifinals on the championship side of the tournament bracket.
In the semifinals, Elijah Quissua led Saint Francis – and all scorers – with 25 points in a 65-62 loss to fifth-seeded Ashbury College from Rockcliffe, Ont., since 2001 a part of Ottawa
The Phoenix rebounded with an 86-77 win over sixth-seeded King’s Christian Collegiate from Oakville to win the bronze medal. Saint Francis’s Awab Ali tied for the game lead in scoring with 25 points.
Seventh-seeded St. Josephs from Barrie defeated Ashbury 58-46 for the gold medal.
Brebeuf, the 16th seed in a field of 20 and an automatic entry as the host team, lost both of its games on the opening day of the three-day tournament. On Monday morning, the Lynx fell 60-43 to No. 6 seed Timmins High on their home court and were relegated to the consolation side of the bracket after dropping a 94-61 decision to third-seeded Ottawa Notre Dame when the action shifted to one of the two courts at Niagara College’s main campus in Welland.
The hosts, which will only lose four players to graduation, made
the most of an opportunity to gain valuable playoff experience after that. They edged No. 12 North York Crawford Adventist Academy 7372 on Tuesday and took two games Wednesday from higher seeds – No. 12 Almonte District, 61-40; No. 14 Walkerton District, 49-37 – to win the consolation championship.
No. 4 Belleville Nicholson defeated second-seeded Peterborough Kenner 62-47 for the gold medal and defending champions, topseeded Lejeunnese, returned home to Windsor with the bronze medal following a 57-55 victory over Monsignor J. Pereyma, the 17th seed from Oshawa.
The 15th-seeded Hamilton District Knights, the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (SOSSA) and the other entry from the host region, advanced to the semifinal round of the bracket where they lost 51-42 to Walkerton.
At the triple-A championship in Ancaster, Eden, the second entry from SOSSA, was seeded 12th in a field of 20 while the host Saltfleet Storm, the SOSSA champions, were the third seed.
The Flyers soared to a 3-0 start. Chad Thorpe and Luke Midgley each had 16 points in a 72-61 victory over second-seeded Holy Names from Windsor, Kai Schatz had a game-high 22 points in a 61-52 defeat of 15th-seeded Cameron Heights from Kitchener, and he had 23 points in a 54-50 victory over A.B. Lucas, the seventh seed from London, Ont.
Midgley has 17 points in a 63-57 loss to Saltfleet, the eventual silver medallist and Thorpe had a gamehigh 17 points in a 56-54 loss in a rematch with Holy Names in the bronze medal game
Top-seeded Oakwood from Toronto defeated Saltfleet 53-38 for the gold.
Volleyball
The Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs from St. Catharines advanced to the quarter-finals on the A side of the bracket before being eliminated from medal contention at the girls double-A volleyball championship.
Churchill, the fifth seed at the 20team tournament in Sydenham, Ont., north of Kingston, finished second in Pool C with a 3-1 record.
The Bulldogs lost to No. 2 Oakville T.A. Blakelock (25-18, 25-23), swept No. 15 Richmond Hill Holy Trinity (25-16, 25-22) and scored three-set victories No. 12 Cobourg St. Mary (25-18, 16-25, 15-10) and No. 18 Timmins O’Gorman (28-26, 19-25, 15-9).
Fourth-seeded Amherstburg North Star defeated Churchill in four sets – 22-25, 25-15, 25-10, 25-21 – in the quarter-finals and went on to win the bronze medal in a 3-1 victory over No. 3 London Oakridge.
No. 1 seed Ottawa Beatrice-Desloges swept T.A. Blakelock 3-0 in the championship game.
Churchill was the lone SOSSA entry from the Niagara region in girls volleyball. Hamilton Westmount competed at the triple-A championship in Toronto and Hamilton District Christian went to the single-A championship in Blind RiverElliot Lake where it won the bronze medal.