Kennedy Clippers conquer high school hoops tourney
Tournament MVP Kyle Fazekas had 22 points as the Kennedy Clippers claimed the 63rd annual University of Windsor High School Boys Basketball Christmas Tournament on Saturday at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse.
Ardell Scott-jackson had 17 and Mazin Tiea, who was named to the all-tournament team, finished with 12 points as the Clippers beat the defending champion Cambridge St. Benedict Saints 69-61 in the final.
“We were hoping to make it to the final,” said Clippers head coach Patrick Osborne. “We knew it was going to be a good game. They’ve been to OFSAA several times.”
Kennedy became the first local team in a decade to win the event and it marked the first time the Clippers emerged with the title since 1985.
“It’s been a while since Windsor won a title,” Osborne said. “Good early test to see what we need to improve so we can make a run.”
Kennedy got to the final with a 69-62 win over the St. Joseph Lasers, who later fell in the thirdplace game 64-48 to Toronto Oakwood.
The Riverside Rebels won the consolation final with a 79-74 victory over Hamilton Macnab.
JONES PACES EXPRESS
Guard Chris Jones scored 24 points as the Windsor Express beat the London Lightning 117-114 in NBL of Canada exhibition play on Saturday in Chatham.
Davon Dillard had 21 points in 20 minutes off the bench for the Express, who also got 16 points from guard Ryan Anderson and 15 points from forward Sam Muldrow
RYCHEL SPARKS FLYERS
Maddux Rychel had a goal and three assists to help the Leamington Flyers to a 5-3 road win over the Sarnia Legionnaires on Saturday in Western Conference play in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.
The Flyers brought Rychel and Griffin Robinson back into the fold last week in a deal with Chatham. Kobe Seguin had a goal and two assists for the second-place Flyers (24-7-0-1) while Dylan Weston, Rory Diniro and Wyatt O’neil each had a goal and an assist against the seventh-place Legionnaires (10-16-1-2).
NATIONALS DROP VIPERS
Short players due to post-secondary exams, the Lasalle Vipers dropped an 8-1 decision on the road Saturday to the first-place London Nationals in Western Conference play in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.
Kyle Walker had the lone goal for the fourth-place Vipers (16-10-1-4) against the Nationals (27-4-0-1).
73’S WIN PAIR
The Essex 73’s scored a pair of weekend wins in Bill Stobbs Division play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League.
The 73’s scored a 1-0 win over the Blenheim Blades on Sunday after beating the Wallaceburg Thunderhawks 5-2 on Saturday.
On Sunday, goalie Connor Meyerink
made 21 saves to record his second shutout of the season. Ty Moss had the lone goal for the third-place 73’s (16-8-0-1) with less than seven minutes to play in regulation against the seventh-place Blades (8-14-1-2)
In Saturday’s game, the 73’s got single goals from Conor Dembinski, Cayden Vanderpark, Darcy Haupt, Moss and Jacob Cruickshank.
ADMIRALS GAIN SPLIT
The Amherstburg Admirals rebounded from a 6-3 loss to the Lakeshore Canadiens on Saturday to beat the Wallaceburg Thunderhawks 5-2 on Sunday in Bill Stobbs Division play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League.
On Sunday, Max Clifford had two goals to lead the fourth-place Admirals (15-7-1-1).
Christian Mcbride, Michael Ruttinger and Mitchell Demelo, who also had three assists, added single goals against the ninth-place Thunderhawks (3-23-0-1).
On Saturday, Jake Nimmo scored twice for the first-place Canadiens (24-3-0-0).
Ameen Fadel, Andrew Thoms, Adam Pizzo and Max Sieberer added singles goals.
Ruttinger had a goal and three points for the Admirals. Bryce Mcgregor and Jacob Fields also scored single goals.