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Sports Oakville Beaver www.aplushomes.ca Adam Campbell 905-844-4444 R E A L T YC O R P. B R O K E R A G E I N D E P E N D E N T LY O W N E D A N D O P E R AT E D Broker of Record SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2010 25 Blades romp in Dudley opener It didn't take long for the topranked team at this week's Dudley Hewitt Cup tournament to flex its collective muscle. The Oakville Blades whipped the Abitibi Eskimos in their first game at the Central Canada junior A championships, cruising to a 6-0 victory yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon in Sault Ste. Marie. Oakville outshot the Eskimos 50-15 on the afternoon. Josh Ranalli, Steven Hickey, Steven Guzzo, Ryan Murphy, Kyle Badham and Kyle Lysaght scored for the Blades in the romp. Daniel Savelli earned the shutout in goal. Guzzo, whose father John is a Soo native, was named the Blades' player of the game. Oakville coach Jason Nobili was surprised by the disparity in yesterday's contest. "That team's a well-respected team. They're champions from their own league," he said. "Sometimes in these settings, these things happen and I don't know why. But they're a good team." The Blades will shoot for a 2-0 start and guarantee themselves a spot in the tournament playoff round when they take on the host Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds tonight (Wednesday, 7 p.m.). "(The Thunderbirds) will be excited to play in front of their home crowd," Nobili said. "They're not just in this tournament because they're the hosts." The top team in the round robin will earn a bye to Saturday's championship game, while the secondand third-place teams will play in a semifinal contest Friday. The Dudley Hewitt champion will represent the Central Canada region at the RBC Royal Bank Cup nationals, which will be held next month in Dauphin, MB. Oakville was ranked 10th in the country in the final Canadian See Blades page 27 ERIC RIEHL / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER CATHOLIC FINALS: In left photo, St. Matthew Wildcats player Devyn MacKenzie dribbles around a St. Gabriel opponent. In right photo, St. Bernadette's Sebastian Ruscica (with ball) runs down the floor with St. Andrew's Michael Lewna at his side. St. Matthew, St. Bernadette tops in Catholic hoops Victory is sweet for Wildcats girls By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Kings finally have their coronation By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The St. Matthew Wildcats faced a formidable foe in the St. Gabriel Storm but thanks to their dominating 39-14 victory, the forecast at the Oakville school was 100 per cent chance of McFlurries. Spurred on by the promise of ice cream, the Wildcats used a highpaced offence and a smothering defence to score a convincing victory in the Halton Catholic elementary girls' basketball final last week in Burlington. "I think it was just that we got pumped that we could do it," said the Wildcats' Devyn MacKenzie. "The ice cream did help, though." MacKenzie's 21 points alone would have been enough to seal the title for the Wildcats. The Grade 8 student used her speed to beat defenders and finish off several fast breaks with layups. But as much as the Wildcats offence was firing on all cylinders, it was the defence that really put the game away. St Matthew allowed only a single basket in the first 22 minutes, building an insurmountable 32-2 lead by the opening minutes of the third quarter. What made the victory even more remarkable was the fact that St. Gabriel had defeated St. Matthew by 20 points in the only prior meeting this season. "Midway through the season, the chemistry came together," said Nicole Biturajac, who coaches the team with Karen Moskal. "They got comfortable with each other and their confidence as a team improved." But even with improved confidence, facing St. Gabriel in the final presented a unique challenge. See St. Matthew page 28 Though the St. Bernadette Kings came into the championship game with a 35-1 record, coach Randy Curvan was not as confident as the team's record might suggest he would be. After all, the Kings were undefeated the last time they reached the Halton Catholic elementary boys' basketball final in 2007 but were denied the title. That marked the third straight runner-up finish for the Kings. It took three more years for St. Bernadette to get another shot at the Halton title, but this time the Kings made the most of it. Clinging to a one-point lead in the third quarter, St. Bernadette went on a 17-2 run that provided the cushion it needed to secure the elusive championship. "After being here four times in six years, it feels great to win one," Curvan said following his team's 55-44 victory over the St. Andrew Avengers last week in Burlington. The Kings still gave their coach some cause for concern. Paced by a 12point first quarter by Scott Docherty, the Kings built a 10-point lead in the opening quarter. The 6-foot-2 Grade 8 student used his height as an advantage to pull down rebounds but also showed good athletic ability to drive to basket and create shots for himself. "He's the best player in our board," said Avengers coach Jason Tallevi. "We knew we weren't going to shut him down but we wanted to make him work hard for every basket and we did that." The Avengers would fight their way back by using good ball movement to get open shots, which fell with more regularity than they did in the opening quarter. St. Andrew got baskets from five different players as it See Kings page 28