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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday April 21, 2007 - 45 Kings crowned by St. Raphael in Catholic boys' hoops final... By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF BURLINGTON -- The St. Bernadette Kings had every reason to believe this was the year. The boys' basketball team entered Thursday's Halton Catholic elementary school basketball final without a single loss and plenty of big-game experience, having been to the Halton final the previous two seasons. The St. Raphael Blazers had other ideas. The Blazers may not have had the same impressive record coming into the game -- they went 6-1 during the regular season and lost to Canadian Martyrs in the Burlington final -- but they were also without two of their key players for much of the season. With the full lineup healthy for the Halton playoffs, the Blazers won four straight games to reach the final and then stormed out to a 12-4 lead against St. Bernadette on their way to a 35-25 win to take the title for the first time since 1999. Leading the way with a 16-point performance was Justin Spears, who missed most of the regular season with a broken collarbone. Meanwhile, Liam Board, who recently returned to the court after breaking his arm, had a key steal that he converted into a basket with three minutes to play after St. Bernadette had trimmed an 11-point deficit to four. Twice, St. Raphael coach Annalise Sofia had to call timeouts to settle her team after St. Bernadette rallies. "I just tried to remind them that they worked so hard to get here and they just had to want it more," she said. It would have been hard to want it more than the Kings. They won back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001 but have recently been snakebitten in the final, having lost in each of their previous two trips, including a 40-36 loss to Ecole Ste. Marie last year. "This is our third straight Halton final," said Kings coach Randy Curvan. "We have two kids (Spencer Pecar and Michael Wood) who have been on the team since Grade 6 so they've been here for all three. They worked so hard all year so it's tough when this is your first loss of the season. But I'm very proud of them. They had a phenomenal season." Justin Silveira led the Kings with nine points, Joe Giorno had seven and Carson Docherty added five. St. Timothy's looked like it would run away with the game early on. Led by Board and Greg Owens, the Blazers opened with a 10-2 run. But, buoyed by Giorno's outside shooting, the Oakville champions would get within three points. However, the Kings would spend the remainder of the game trying to reel in their opponents. "We got frazzled by their half-court trap," said Curvan, who coaches the Kings with Dale Rosha. "We weren't doing a lot of the things we usually do. When we started getting rebounds and boxing out, the intensity went up." The tempo also increased, which was fine with St. Timothy's. "Our fast break has been our strength all year," Sofia said. LOOSE BALL: Michael Wood of the St. Bernadette Kings (right) looks on as an unidentified St. Raphael player attemps to corral a loose ball. Wood and the Kings were denied a Halton Catholic elementary school boys' basketball title with a 35-25 loss in St. Bernadette's third consecutive Halton finals appearance. ...and also in girls' title match, despite comeback effort BURLINGTON -- The St. Raphael Hawks looked to be on cruise control but they hit a speed bump on their way to the Halton Catholic elementary girls' basketball title. The Hawks sported a lead that fluctuated between six and 10 points throughout the second and third quarter of Thursday's final at Notre Dame Secondary. While the charging foul the Hawks' Christine McNulty took at the beginning of the fourth quarter certainly didn't help St. Raphael, with just one quarter remaining, their 33-25 advantage over the St. Bernadette Kings seemed a more than comfortable margin to ride to the title. McNulty had racked up 17 points in just three quarters of play before fouling out but her importance to the Hawks' offence became immediately apparent. But the Kings took full advantage of being in a bonus situation, using their free throws to chip away at the lead and pull within two points with less than a minute remaining. The Hawks would not let this one slip away, though. When they got into bonus territory late in the game, Ashleigh Anderson would hit three of four in the final minute to secure the 38-31 victory. Hawks regain composure in fourth "When Christine fouled out at the beginning of the fourth, we lost our composure," said St. Raphael's Kelly Ferguson, "but we called our time out and pulled together." Both teams were looking to capture the Halton title after being denied in their respective zone title games. St. Raphael had to settle for a bronze in the Burlington playdowns while St. Bernadette lost a close three-point decision to St. Matthew in the Oakville final. They had met in the final of an early-season tournament with St. Raphael pulling out the victory by a single basket. There didn't look to be much hope for any drama when St. Raphael jumped out to a 20-10 lead and took a 24-16 lead into the break. With Anderson, who finished with 13 points, and McNulty leading the charge, they maintained that eight point edge going into the final quarter. While St. Bernadette had a distinct height advantage, St. Raphael countered with hustle and pressure. Though the Hawks controlled the boards, they seldom had good passing options once they got the rebound and were forced into many turnovers. "These girls are fast and so aggressive," Ferguson said. "That's the way they've played all season." "You have to give them credit, their hustle and defence was excellent," said Kings' coach Rob Fuciarelli. "Our girls didn't give up, though." But with McNulty on the bench, the Kings gained some confidence in their own offensive game and began charging to the basket. The resulting fouls helped them narrow the game. Rene Helmer, who paced her team with 14 points, had four in an eight-point Kings' run that brought St. Bernadette within two. Marti Killeen chipped in with six points -- five of them in the second quarter -- for St. Bernadette while Alex Rusica had four. While St. Bernadette came up short in the end, Fuciarelli said the team made remarkable gains over the season, finishing with an overall record of 20-6 including tournaments. "Nobody expected any of this from us, so to make the Oakville final and then make the Halton final was pretty incredible. I'm only disappointed with the outcome, not the effort," he said. "Their shooting improved dramatically and so did their court sense. And you won't see a team with better team spirit." D'Youville wins bronze-medal game Amanda Swinhoe scored 19 points to lead St. Marguerite D'Youville to a 34-20 win over Our Lady of Peace in the bronze medal game. Tracey Seed had 10 points. Sam Ernest led Our Lady of Peace with eight points and Brianna Cosilino had six. -- Herb Garbutt HANDS UP: St. Bernadette's Rene Helmer challenges the shot of a St. Raphael Hawks opponent during the Halton Catholic elementary school girls' basketball final Thursday in Burlington. St. Raphael held off the Kings' fourth-quarter surge to earn a 33-25 win.