Saints atop provincial b-ball mountain
The Eastern Commerce Saints returned to familiar territory after winning the AAAA OFSAA basketball championships March 11 in Windsor.
Eastern, the tournament’s top seed, defeated the third-seeded Mother Teresa Titans 50–49 to win its fifth gold medal since 2002. Shamar Bennet paced the Saints attack with a game-high 16 points, while Jerome Brown and Alwayne Bigby chipped in with 12 and 10 respectively.
A provincial gold medal came on the heels of Eastern’s AAAA city championship. The Saints defeated the West Hill Warriors 51–41 to capture the AAAA city crown.
Riverdale falters at OFSAA volleyball
The Riverdale Raiders had a tough outing at the AAAA OFSAA girls volleyball championships March 9–11 in Caledon.
Seeded 10th out of 16 teams, the Raiders finished pool play in third place with a 1–2 record. Riverdale’s lone round robin win was 2–1 (25–16, 21–25, 15–12) over Michael Power.
Riverdale was placed in the consolation playoffs, but lasted only one match. Vincent Massey eliminated the Raiders in the consolation quarter-finals winning 2–1 (25–21, 24–26, 15–10).
The Raiders earned their spot in the provincial tourney after earning the city’s second chance bid.
Riverdale lost 3–0 to the Birchmount Park Panthers in the city final on Feb. 26, but won the back-door game against the Victoria Park Panthers.
Athenas winless at hockey provincials
The East York Athenas ended their first appearance at the AAA/AAAA OFSAA girls hockey championship without a win.
East York ended the tournament, which ran March 24–27 in Orillia, with an 0–2–1 record. The Athenas lone point from a 2–2 with St. Joseph’s High School of Barrie.
The Athenas booked their trip to Orillia by winning the city’s back-door game. After losing 3–0 to the Birchmount Park Panthers in the Tier 1 city final on March 4, East York defeated the Richview Saints 3–1 two days later to qualify for OFSAA.
Thunder miss out on GTHL finals
Three Ted Reeve Thunder squads were one series win away from advancing to their respective Greater Toronto Hockey League championship final.
In the Atom A loop, the North Toronto Wild eliminated the Thunder 9–3 in the first-to-eight-points East Division final series. North Toronto went on to win the GTHL title over the Humber Valley Sharks.
The Minor Peewee A Thunder also lost in the East final, falling 9–5 to the Markham Islanders. Markham was unable to keep up its momentum in the GTHL final, losing 9–3 to the Vaughan Rangers.
Ted Reeve’s Minor Bantam A squad suffered a similar fate, losing 8–0 to the Leaside Flames in the East final. Leaside did not win the GTHL crown, however, falling 8–2 to the Toronto Avalanche.