Raiders' sniper Basso has league scoring lead By EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer With offensive totals that look more like the won-loss record of a Cy Young candidate, Georgetown Raider forward Justin Basso admits he's a little surprised by his recent goal-scoring prowess. The 20-year-old from Mississauga has 21 goals and 11 assists in 17 games this season to lead the Ontario Junior Hockey League's list of lamp-lighters, which strangely enough is almost the same W-L mark as former Toronto Blue Jays' pitching ace Roy Halladay recorded with the Philadelphia Phillies (21-10) in the 2010 Major League Baseball campaign. Basso scored a goal in each of Georgetown's weekend victories, a dominating 4-1 road victory over the Oakville Blades Friday and an 11-3 stat-padding exercise against the 1-14-1 Collingwood Blackhawks Saturday at the Alcott Arena. "I'm usually known for my passing and assists, but the puck just seems to be going in, so I'll take it," said the 6-foot,180-pound former Milton IceHawk. "During the summer I just worked on my shot a lot and I've been fortunate to get a lot of help from my teammates." He's already registered three- and four-goal games so far, while not actually playing 5-on-5 on the Raiders' top offensive unit. Basso is also tied for the lost in its own zone through much of the evening, despite nearly equalizing in the final seconds of the third period. Walters said that "only about 11 or 12 players showed up" for the loss to the Cougars, who are three points back of first-place Georgetown in the OJHL West Division standings. The first-year bench boss employed a short bench in the win over Oakville, which also marked the debut of talented rearguard Matt Chiarantano, who was picked up from the Aurora Tigers in exchange for Reed. Basso, Patrick Megannety, Ralph Cuddemi and Wilson tallied against the Blades, with Michael Nishi making 39 saves for the W. Hebebrand (2), Burnell (2), Mike Sullivan, Tyler McCarthy, Rodrigues, Basso, Brock Labelle, Wilson and Mike Capicotto scored against Collingwood. Hebebrand (2), Basso, Reed and Travis Fulton had the goals in the loss to Burlington. This week, the Raiders visit last-place Milton Friday night and will host the Hamilton Red Wings Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Georgetown, with the two former rivals meeting up again Monday in Steeltown. The Raiders are teaming up with McDonald's Restaurant to hold a Halloween costume contest for this Saturday's game and the new name for the team's mascot will also be revealed. SPORTS & LEISURE 11 Independent & Free Press, Tuesday, October 26, 2010 Georgetown Raiders' goaltender Michael Nishi foils a scoring attempt by Oakville's Blake Roubos and Mark McGowan during their Ontario Jr. Hockey League matchup last Friday at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. The Raiders rebounded from a 6-5 loss to Burlington two days before and Nishi made 39 saves in a 4-1 victory over the struggling Blades to hold on to top spot in the OJHL's West Division. Photo by Eamonn Maher league lead in shorthanded markers with three and has notched six powerplay goals. "When you've got (front-liners Duston Hebebrand, Evan Rodrigues and captain Scott Wilson) and then can put out Basso and veteran guys like Josh Burnell and Jordan Reed together, not many teams can match up against that," said Raiders' coach and general manager Greg Walters. "But really, we feel that when things are going well for us, all four of our forward lines should be able to contribute at both ends of the rink." That wasn't the case last Wednesday against the Burlington Cougars, who handed the 13-4-0 Raiders their first home loss of the year after six straight wins to start, a messy 6-5 decision. The home side fell behind 2-0 just three minutes into the contest and looked High school roundup: Football Rebels post second win After dropping their first three games of the Halton Secondary School Athletic Association's regular season, the Georgetown Rebels' senior football team is on a bit of a roll on the eve of the official opening of the Kiwanis Field facility this Friday. The Rebels edged the host Abbey Park Eagles 14-13 last Thursday to improve to 2-3 heading into their last league game before the Tier I/IIplayoffs Friday at home against the 2-3 Corpus Christi Longhorns beginning at 2 p.m. Mack Morrison and Cam Wilkinson scored the GDHS touchdowns and Jake Nash supplied the converts. Christ the King's seniors have won three straight contests, including a 23-3 triumph over Milton last week, to set up a clash for first place in the Tier III division Wednesday against undefeated Oakville-Trafalgar starting at 2 p.m. at the Gellert Recreation Centre. Meanwhile, CtK's juniors remain unbeaten at 4-0 in Tier III play after a 40-16 rout of Milton District last week. Hayden Gaskill-Cadwallader and Khalil Smith had two touchdowns apiece, with Tudor Bertien contributing a TD, field goal, three converts and two singles. The junior Rebels earned their first win of the season last week, a 28-6 decision over Abbey Park. overtime period and it gave Christ the King's Jaguars a 40-38 victory over the visiting Georgetown Rebels Thursday in Tier I girls' action. The 6-3 Rebels led by four points with two minutes left to play in regulation before the 8-1 Jaguars forced extra time. Cierra Henry had a dozen points for CtK, with Lindsay Poulton netting 18 for GDHS. Both the local teams face undefeated Notre Dame of Burlington this week prior to the start of playoffs. Basketball A layup by Camilla Paluch as time expired was the lone basket in the first PURCHASE FINANCING Field hockey An upset 4-3 victory on penalties over previously unbeaten St. Thomas Aquinas this past Friday propelled the or Georgetown junior Rebels on to the HSSAA semifinals today (Tuesday) in Burlington against another powerhouse, the 8-0-0 Nelson Lords. The 6-2-1 Rebels trailed Aquinas 1-0 with about 15 minutes remaining in the second half of the quarterfinal before Caylee Bridie got the equalizing marker to send the contest into extra time. After no scoring in the 10-minute overtime period, Jenna McKenzie, Kerriane Skea and Georgina Warner converted their penalty flicks for the Rebels to defeat the Raiders, who hadn't given up a single goal all season. 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