OFSAA glory on the line for high school athletes
A week after hosting the provincial high school swim championships, Windsor will again take centre stage for the OFSAA championships.
Seven more OFSAA championships are set to be contested this week and Windsor will host three of those events with boys’ AAA basketball and girls’ A volleyball starting on Monday and wrestling on Tuesday.
The Kennedy Clippers, who won the bronze medal at last year’s AA championship, have moved up to host this year’s AAA event and enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed. “There are several quality teams that can win,” said Clippers head coach Pat Osborne, whose team opens play on Monday at noon against No. 18 St. Mary ’s from Sault Ste. Marie.
Everette Burks and Marquise Lara Caston will be key to Kennedy’s offence while Magdi Tiea leads the defence.
“The keys for us are ball movement, finding the right people at the right time, transition defence and shooting the ball well enough from behind the three-point line to extend the other team’s defence,” Osborne said.
The Assumption Purple Raiders are the No. 12 seed at the OFSAA boys’ AA basketball championship in Pembroke.
“We’re not satisfied with just making OFSAA and getting a 12th seed,” Purple Raiders head coach Ryan Steer said. “We want to prove to the province just how tough Windsor basketball is.” Assumption will open tournament play on Monday against No. 10 St. Theresa from Belleville at 2:45 p.m. Guard Kassen Byas, who average 20 points a game, will pace the team’s offence along with guard/forward Ben Horvath. After finishing fourth while hosting the event a year ago, the Lajeunesse Royals will look to get onto the podium at the OFSAA boys’ A basketball championship in Cornwall.
“I think the competition is wide open,” Royals head coach Geoff Parent said. “I don’t think the seeds matter at all this year, from one to 12. It will come down to teams that want it more and can execute. A medal is definitely not out of the question.”
This is a younger Lajeunesse team from a year ago, but shooting guard Andreas McBounds is averaging nearly 30 points a game and point guard Elio Skaf keys the offence.
After hosting boys’ basketball last year, Lajeunesse will host the girls’ A volleyball championship this year.
“We have a very young team this year,” said Royals head coach Sonia Lapierre, who has one starter in Grade 9 and three in Grade 10. The 15th-seeded Royals also have a tough start to pool play on Monday with a 9:30 a.m. game against No. 5 University of Toronto and a 12:30 p.m. game at Assumption against No. 1 Holy Trinity from Richmond Hill.
The Riverside Rebels have won back-to-back OFSAA silver medals at the AA girls’ volleyball tournament and enter as the No. 4 seed at this year’s event in Mississauga. “We are seeded fourth, which is where we anticipated,” said Rebels head coach Tony Omar, whose team opens pool play on Monday against No. 17 Lindsay at 10:30 a.m. and No. 7 St. Joseph from Barrie at 4:30 p.m.
The Rebels have one of the best players in the province in left-side hitter Caylee Parker, who is headed to the University of Connecticut in the fall. Setter Avarie Provost has been consistent all year and Grade 9 Jordyn Brearley has been solid in the middle.
The St. Anne Saints are back at the girls’ AAA volleyball championship for a second-straight year. Saints co-captains Jenna Pellerito and Claire LaMarre led the team to the WECSSAA title and will look to lead the No. 17-seeded Saints at this year’s event in London. St. Anne opens pool play on Monday against No. 4 Eastview from Barrie at 10:30 a.m. and No. 10 St. Marcellinus from Mississauga at 4:30 p.m. For the third time in four years, Windsor will host OFSAA wrestling with 761 athletes from 200 schools set to begin competition at the WFCU Centre on Tuesday, with about 30 of those being local competitors. The cost is $5 for a two-day pass.