LOCAL ATHLETES RAKE IN THE HARDWARE AT OFSAA
Holy Names and Lajeunesse dig deep to win bronze medals at provincial championships
Area athletes brought home plenty of hardware as several Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships wrapped up.
The Holy Names Knights and Lajeunesse Royals each claimed a bronze medal in boys basketball, as did the North Star Wolves in girls volleyball.
Meanwhile, Windsor and Essex County Secondary Schools Athletic Association athletes brought home 10 medals from the OFSAA swimming championships and another seven medals were earned on the mats at the OFSAA wrestling championship.
Following is a recap of the medal winners from the OFSAA championships.
KNIGHTS GET REDEMPTION
No team had a tougher road to a medal than the second-seeded Holy Names Knights at the boys AAA basketball championship in Hamilton.
The Knights were upset on the opening day of the tournament, falling 72-61 to No. 12 Eden. Holy Names got a second chance to play on, but had to come through the losers bracket. The comeback started with a 48-43 win over No. 5 Toronto St. Michael's and a tight 41-39 win over No. 13 Ottawa Glebe to reach the medal round.
“The hard road was a reality,” Knights head coach Ryan Steer said.
Holy Names fell 48-44 in a tough back-and-forth match with No. 1-seeded Toronto Oakwood in the semis.
“The No. 1 seed was the battle we expected without the result,” said Steer, who got 25 points from Austin Brown and 15 points from Arlind Avdo in the game. “We didn't execute down the stretch the way we are capable of and we didn't have our best performance when we needed.”
But the Knights would get revenge to earn the bronze medal with a
56-54 win over Eden in a rematch. Avdo had 12 points along with Keilan Laporte. Brown finished with 11 points and Arnez Kerr added 10.
“Such a great accomplishment for our program and Holy Names basketball,” Steer said. “Proud of all the hard work and dedication this group of guys put into our season, the heart they showed as a team this week was unquestioned by anyone in the gym.”
ROYALS WIN THRILLER
The defending champion and top-seeded Lajeunesse Royals were upset in the semis at the OFSAA boys A basketball championship in Welland.
After falling 58-50 to No. 4-seed Belleville Nicholson, the Royals rebounded for a thrilling 57-55 win over No. 17 Oshawa Monsignor J. Pereyma to earn the bronze medal. David Yengo Kabuya hit a layup with eight seconds to play to provide Lajeunesse with the winning edge.
“Obviously, we are extremely disappointed to not be able to defend our title,” said Royals head coach Geoff Parent, who said the team got strong performances from Jacy Zhang and Lucas Kwapisz throughout the tournament. “Everything was in front of us. We blew a chance to repeat in that semi playing a team we had beaten earlier in the year, which I believe played a part in our boys' confidence level going in. Nicholson played a heck of a game, though, and they deserved to win that one.
“In terms of the bronze-medal game, I couldn't be more proud of the energy and effort our guys showed, especially after the letdown in the semi. It is not always easy to compete for the bronze, especially when you're expected to win.”
Lajeunesse opened with a 72-34 win over No. 19 Oakville Sainte-trinite and beat No. 3 Ottawa Notre Dame before taking out No. 9 Sault Ste. Marie White Pines 53-45 in quarterfinal play to advance to the semis.
EXPECTATIONS EXCEEDED
Battered and bruised for much of the season, the No. 4-seeded North Star Wolves dug deep to earn the bronze medal at the OFSAA girls AA volleyball championship in Sydenham.
“Not being dramatic, but this group got more out of themselves than some of our groups that have won gold,” said Wolves head coach Jeff Miller, who saw his team win its ninth OFSAA medal in the last 17 years.
North Star won all four games in its pool and took eight of nine sets in the process.
In the quarterfinals, the Wolves beat No. 5 St. Catharines Sir Winston Churchill 3-1 by scores of 22-25, 25-15, 25-10 and 25-21.
North Star fell 3-0 to No. 1 seed Ottawa Beatrice-desloges by scores of 25-19, 25-13 and 25-19, but rebounded to beat No. 3 London Oakridge 3-1 in the bronze-medal game by scores of 19-25, 25-14, 25-20 and 25-20.
“Truly remarkable what this group was able to achieve this season,” Miller said. “Lauren Essenpreis was a force and one of the best players in the tournament. Emily Beauregard and Lily Mulder also had an outstanding tournament.”
TEN SWIMMING MEDALS
At the OFSAA swimming championships at the Pan Am Sports Complex in Toronto, Cardinal Carter's Taya Hutchison won a pair of gold medals and set two new records in the process.
Hutchison won the open 50 metres in 25.46 seconds to break the old mark of 25.85 set by Villanova's Rachel Rode in 2016. She added a second record in the open 100 metres with a time of 56.02 seconds, which broke the old mark of 56.19 set by Waterloo's Laura Nicholls in 1997.
Also on the girls side, Riverside's Nicole Patterson won a pair of medals. She took gold in the senior 100-metre breaststroke in one minute and 17.92 seconds and added a bronze medal in the 100-metre individual medley in 1:13.61.
Vista Academy's Grace Pattinson earned a silver medal in the junior 50-metre freestyle with a time of 30:04.
On the boys side, Assumption's Brian Polar won a silver medal in the junior 50-metre freestyle in 26.60.
Leamington's Brayden Shaw picked up a silver medal in the junior 100-metre individual medley in 1:10.12.
Massey's Riley Carswell, Harry Wei, Kevin Yan and Nikola Lackovic teamed to take a bronze medal in the open 400-metre freestyle relay in 3:38.09.
In para competition, Giuliana Mancini claimed a silver medal in the girls 50-metre backstroke in 48.39 while Villanova's Joey Accetta earned a bronze medal in the boys 50-metre backstroke in 48.57.
SEVEN MAT MEDALS
At the OFSAA wrestling championships, which were held at the United Soccer Centre in Hamilton, area athletes grabbed four gold medals, a silver and two bronze medals.
On the boys side, Kennedy's Al-marsri Nouraldeen won gold in the 38 kg division and teammate Kevin Rakowska took bronze in the 83 kg division. Massey's Nash Renaud won gold in the 72 kg division and helped the Mustangs to a sixth-place finish in the team competition.
Assumption's Daniella Papia won gold in the girls 83 kg division and teammate Charissa Okeke earned a silver medal in the 72 kg division as the Purple Raiders finished fourth in the team competition.
St. Joseph's Jacklyn Iacoboni won gold in the girls 115 kg plus division and teammate Joy Uchenna took the bronze medal in the 83 kg division.