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32 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR:JONKUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012 Raiders draw first blood in West final Eleven points separated the Oakville Blades from the Georgetown Raiders during the Ontario Junior Hockey League regular season, but only a couple inches separated the rivals in the opening game of the West Division championship series. Georgetown earned a 2-1 victory over the Blades Wednesday in Georgetown, breaking a 1-1 tie early in the third period on a goal by Geoffrey Bagnall. Oakville threatened to tie the game late in regulation but hit the goalpost twice in the final minute. Tyler Karius opened the scoring in the first period for the Blades. Caleb Apperson tied the contest in the second frame for the Raiders. The best-of-seven series shifts to Oakville tonight (Friday) for Game 2, a 7:30 start at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. Georgetown holds homeice advantage in the series after winning the West Division regular-season points title, finishing 11 points ahead of Oakville. Following tonight's contest, the Raiders will host Game 3 tomorrow (Saturday). The Blades will be home for Game 4 Tuesday, another 7:30 p.m. start at Sixteen Mile. GRAHAM PAINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER Appleby relay golden in suspense-filled race By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Daniel Lin cut through the water with two rivals neck-and-neck in the neighbouring lanes chasing him down. His Appleby College teammates screamed as though the sound of their voices could propel him through water. On his last stroke, Lin strained for the wall and though less than half a second separated the top three teams in the OFSAA junior boys medley relay, his teammates were sure he was first. Little did they know, the suspense was just beginning. "When he hit the wall, I jumped in the air and started celebrating," said Mitchell Boggs. "Then I looked up at the clock and it said we lost by three seconds. We were trying to figure out what was going on." St. Andrew's College, over in lane one, had come from nowhere to win -- or so it seemed. "The three schools were so close, we weren't even paying attention to what was happening in lane one," said Torin Viger. Even as Lin, Boggs, Viger and Thomas Akdeniz walked toward podium, they still had no idea of what colour their medal would be, or if they would get one at all. There was word of a disqualification floating around. After the bronze and silver medals were awarded, the announcement finally came: "The gold medal, from Appleby College." "It definitely felt great to hear that," Akdeniz said. "We had been training hard all season, really focusing on the relay." It turned out a St. Andrew's swimmer, while cheering on his teammate had accidently stepped on the timing mat. Appleby's victory, though, was confirmed with the manual times. It would be the start of a strong showing by the Blue Dogs swim team Tuesday at the provincial high school championships in Milton. Boggs and Akdeniz would earn silver medals later in the day and Akdeniz would take gold the following day in the junior boys 50-metre backstroke. He had won an OFSAA bronze medal last year and immediately began thinking about the future. "It was my first really big meet," he said. "I was the only Grade 9 in the final and as soon as I looked up and saw that I won the bronze, I thought, `I can't wait for next year.'" Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships in Milton. Armstrong finished second in the event, earning the seventh OFSAA medal of her swimming career. LUCKY SEVEN: Oakville Trafalgar swimmer Clara Armstrong churns through the water during the senior girls 100-metre breaststroke final at this week's It was worth the wait, Akdeniz won in 30.63 seconds, almost a second and a half ahead of his nearest rival. Akdeniz also took a silver medal in the 50m butterfly, setting a personal best time of 28.02. Boggs also set a personal best time in winning a silver medal in the junior boys 50m breaststroke. "Coming in, I saw the (seed) times and there were three of us within 0.3 seconds, then there was one guy a full second ahead," he said. "That was good motivation having someone there who could really push me." Boggs finished half a second back but cracked the 35-second barrier for the first time, finishing in 34.92 seconds, edging the bronze medalist by six one-hundredths. Oakville Trafalgar's Clara Armstrong collected the seventh OFSAA medal of her high school career, taking silver in the senior girls 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:18.87. Iroquois Ridge's junior boys freestyle relay team earned a bronze medal with a time of 1:57.71. For a complete list of OFSAA finalists, see www.insidehalton.com. Hornets at home tonight Depending on last night's (Thursday's) result, the Oakville Hornets can either advance or be eliminated from the Provincial Women's Hockey League playoffs tonight (Friday). The Hornets will host the London Devilettes tonight (8:30 start at Joshua's Creek Arenas) for Game 4 of the teams' first-round best-of-five playoff series. The teams split the first two games in London before meeting last night in Oakville, a game that began after the Beaver's press deadlines.