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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 7, 20 17 | 50 312 GUELPH ST., GEORGETOWN 905-877-2296 www.georgetowntoyota.com Saturday Dec 9th, 2017 7:30 pm at Mold-Masters SportsPlex Georgetown Raiders vs. Trenton Golden Hawks SPORTS Visit theifp.ca for more coverage Recently overcoming a battle with can- cer, local resident Dan Curtis was cited for being a positive influence in his players' lives by being named the Ontario Minor Hockey Association's Coach of the Month for November. Curtis, bench boss of the Halton Hills minor atom AA Thunder, was selected for the award out of 60 entries from across the province. "Coach Dan's" pre-game prep talks are so motivational, said his nominator, that the players' parents like to sit in on them for inspiration. But Curtis stresses that the outcome of the game is meaningless if the child doesn't progress both as a player and per- son. "If you have an opportunity to mould a young boy or girl and let them know the more important things in life such as team- work, respect for your town, respect for your players and friends and parents and stuff like that that I think has kind of gone away over the last 10 years because of the internet," Curtis said on the OMHA's web- site. "I think it's important that we have the opportunities to do that, that parents and volunteers have to step up to make our ar- ea a better area or our world a better world. To me, there's so much going on and I think I can make a difference, even if it's only 17 nine-year-olds." During Curtis's illness, his players wore stickers on their helmets and unique- ly taped their sticks as a show of support, and he said the support from the team helped him overcome the adversity. "At the end of the day, you've got to count on people and lean on people when things don't go your way," added Curtis, who has coached since age 17 and now mentors some of the kids of his former players. "That's really important. I come to the rink and those kids make me laugh." Local resident Dan Curtis of the Halton Hills minor atom AA Thunder addresses his team during a recent practice at the Mold-Masters SportsPlex. A cancer survivor, Curtis was named the Ontario Minor Hockey Association's Coach of the Month for November. Ontario Minor Hockey Association photo Thunder coach earns OMHA monthly award Apparently, the dog days of December have de- scended on the George- town Raiders, as the Onta- rio Junior Hockey League club lost its fourth consec- utive game on Sunday af- ternoon - a 7-4 decision in Buffalo against the Jr. Sa- bres. For a team that only lost five regular-season con- tests in the 2016 to 2017 sea- son, the recent slide is un- characteristic for the usu- ally stingy Raiders, who handed out many early Christmas presents among the 17 goals scored by the opposition in three week- end defeats. Down 4-0 midway through Sunday's game in Buffalo, Georgetown ral- lied with three third-period markers for the second night in a row to cut the lead to one, before surren- dering a late power-play goal to kill the comeback. Zac Elson, Matt McJan- net, Jordan Crocker and Justin Paul tallied for the visitors, who outshot the Jr. Sabres 37-25. At home on Saturday, the 20-8-1-1 Raiders trailed the short-staffed Oakville Blades 3-1 heading into the final frame, before taking the lead on goals by Austin Cho, Justin Paul and centre Bailey Molella - reacquired by the team this week - but ended up losing 5-4 on a Thomas Maia breakaway goal with five seconds left in the three-on-three sec- ond overtime period. Friday evening's trip to Markham was a runaway for the host Royals, with Georgetown resident Lu- cas Condotta scoring twice in the 5-1 triumph over his younger brother Jaden's side. The Raiders made some other roster changes this past week, dealing backup netminder Andrew Albano and rookie winger Thomas McBroom to the Stouffville Spirit for 17-year-old goalie Nathan Torchia, who made his debut in the loss to Markham. Georgetown has just one game this week, a home date with the Tren- ton Golden Hawks Satur- day at 7:30 p.m., in a re- match of last season's Buckland Cup and Dudley Hewitt Cup finals. Winless weekend for generous Raiders The Mayfield Mavericks won both the junior and senior divisions at Georgetown District High School's 16th-annual Tip-Off Boys' Basketball Tournament on Saturday afternoon, defeating local teams in the fi- nals. As a tune-up for this week's start of the Halton regular seasons, the eight-team Or- ange Day Classic event also raised aware- ness of mental health issues among youth. Orange is the colour associated with support organizations Reach Out Centre for Kids and the Canadian Mental Health Association. On the court, Mayfield won the senior title 57-51 in overtime against Christ the King's Jaguars, who were led by Z. Camer- on's 19 points. Georgetown claimed the consolation championship, downing Hamilton's Delta 81-57. Dominic Walker (17 points) and Kian Durno (14 points) keyed the offence. The Mavericks defeated Georgetown 58- 41in the junior boys' final, despite 16 points from Matt Swan and eight more from Tom- my Woods. In the third-place junior contest, the- Georgetown District High School ban- tams beat Christ the King 43-27. Jacob McNeil (12 points) and Michael Caisse (nine points) chipped in for the home side. Christ the King's seniors and juniors played their league home openers against Holy Trinity on Tuesday afternoon, while Georgetown hosts Iroquois Ridge Thurs- day beginning at 3:30 p.m. Tip-Off hoops tourney swept by Mayfield