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24 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2007 Senior Titans give Holy Trinity its first boys' basketball title By Herb Garbutt Titans, who sank their final nine shots from the line. The Titans took the lead early, but Assumption After being denied their first senior boys' bas- stormed back and was up by as much as five late in ketball Halton championship last year, the expecta- the opening half. Holy Trinity would cut the martions were high for the Holy Trinity Titans. gin to two, 30-28 by halftime. But not too high for the Titans to deliver. The teams traded the lead early in the second Capping a season in which they went 10-0, win- half but Holy Trinity limited the Crusaders to just ning every game by double figures, six points over the final six minutes the Titans wrapped up their perfect "A lot of people of the third quarter. season by defeating the Assumption expected a lot of us, "We definitely had to have good Crusaders 69-53 in Thursday's including ourselves. defence,"McQueen said. "That was Halton AAAA final at Sheridan We felt anything less the bottom line," College. "The second half we came out "I think people might have than a championship with more passion," Smith added. expected us to win it," said the would have been a "We knew we had to come out with Titans' Andrew Smith, who scored disappointment." the same intensity. We came out 10 of his 11 points in the second with it and we did it." half. "A lot of people expected a lot Trinity's Andrew Smith Much of the third-quarter sucof us, including ourselves. We felt cess was due to Trinity's dominance anything less than a championship would have on the boards, which was aided by several been a disappointment." Crusaders getting into foul trouble. But despite all its success, Holy Trinity had its "They out-rebounded us on the offensive hands full for much of the game. The Titans trailed boards," said Assumption's Matt Howlett, who had as late as the midway point of the third quarter and 12 points to lead his team. "They got a lot of secwere clinging to a four-point advantage with just ond-chance points and that killed us." over three minutes remaining. Earlier in the week, the Titans exorcised last "We've played them four times before but this year's demons with a 59-48 semifinal victory over one was the most intense," said Jahmal McQueen, Notre Dame, the team that beat them in last year's who was a dominant force in the paint, scoring a Halton final. Thursday, they won the elusive title game-high 29 points. with their 12th straight win in league play. That's saying something, considering the two Dave Zanic scored eight for the Titans, Danny teams met in the final of the St. Thomas Aquinas Foster-Roman had seven, Petrusvick added six, Pat tournament (a Trinity win) and for a berth in the Moskal had all five of his points in the second half Ontario All-Catholic Tournament (an Assumption and Conor Meschino had four. overtime victory). "This is the first time we've won," said The Titans went on a 10-2 run to end the third McQueen. "We've been working hard. It feels quarter and carried the momentum through to the great." end. Although Assumption briefly cut the lead to The Titans will host a Hamilton school -- either four, Smith and Dean Petrusvick answered with St. Thomas More or Cathedral -- Tuesday in a back-to-back buckets to make it an eight-point Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference challenge advantage. match, with the winner earning one of two GHAC Once the lead widened, the Crusaders were berths in the OFSAA tournament. Game time is forced to shoot for three and, eventually, to foul the scheduled for 4 p.m. OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF SABRINA BYRNES / OAKVILLE BEAVER TO THE RIM: Holy Trinity's Danny Foster-Roman (in white) soars past an Assumption Crusaders defender for a layup attempt in front of a large crowd at Thursday's Halton high school senior boys' basketball AAAA final, contested at Sheridan College. Trinity earned its first-ever regional boys' basketball crown with a 69-53 victory, finishing the Halton season with an undefeated mark. Georgetown sweeps aside OT in senior girls' volleyball final By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Most teams would love a rebuilding year like the Oakville-Trafalgar Red Devils. Despite starting three junior-aged players, the Devils reached the Halton senior girls volleyball final for the fourth year in a row. The only problem was they met a team -- the Georgetown Rebels -- making their 12th consecutive trip to the Halton title game. The veteran-laden Rebel squad dominated the opening game but had to rally in the second to secure a 25-13, 25-17 victory and the school's 10th championship in 12 years. "We thought we could take them but they're a really good team," said the Devils' D.D. Dionisio. "They deserved it." It may well be the Devils who are the deserving victors next year. While five of the Rebels' six starters will graduate this year, OT will return all but Stef Hirano and Caitlin Cross. That's a pretty good starting point for a team that was 8-2 during the regular season and had only one team prevent them from winning their second straight Halton title. "Most teams don't know how young we are," Dionisio said. "They're usually surprised to find out we have that many juniors." "They really picked it up this year," Hirano said of the team's junior players. Dionisio can relate to the situation her younger teammates found themselves in this year. She started playing with the senior team in Grade 9 and knows the first year can be See Young page 25