The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

D4 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, March 21, 2001 Atom AMs earn silver, advance to all-Ontario' s The Oakville Atom AAA Rangers played in the OMHA Tournament of Champions this past weekend (March 16-18) and made it all the way to the final championship game before coming up just short. The Rangers, sponsored by www.customicerinks.com, lost in the gold medal game and walked away with the silver medal. Despite the loss, the good news is that Oakville's strong showing earned them the wildcard berth in the All Ontario Championships to be held April 1315 in Windsor. In the gold medal game, a powerplay Whitby goal was the only marker through two periods, but the Wildcats scored three in the third, includ ing two additional powerplay goals, to give Whitby the 4-0 victory over the Rangers. Despite the loss, the Rangers could keep their heads up, knowing they'd played a strong tourna ment. Under the leadership o f head coach Ian Taylor, and assisted by Perry Badham, Dave Gagner and Peter Favretto, not to mention the tireless efforts o f manager Terry Young, Oakville has had an extremely successful season. And the good news is that it's not over yet, as Oakville will be vying for the title of Ontario's best atom team in the above noted Ontario Hockey Federation championships. (Preliminary round recap) OAKVILLE 4, Burlington 4: Kyle Badham, Sam Gagner and Justin Vaive each scored a goal and added an assist. Jordy Watts added the fourth marker, while additional assists went to Murray Cruickshank, John Kurtz and Kellan Lain. OAKVILLE 6, Barrie 1: a late goal spoiled Graeme M offatt's bid for a shutout. Goals were scored by Sam Gagner (2), Cody Goloubef, Justin Vaive, Dan Hunt and Stu Favretto. Assists went to John Kurtz, Jordy Watts, Gagner, Alex Corrance Goloubef and Brendan Taylor. OAKVILLE 7, York Simcoe 2: Oakville rebounded from a 2-1, first-period deficit with six unanswered goals against the defending OMHA champions. Oakville goals were scored by Justin Vaive (2), Kyle Badham (2), John Kurtz, Jordy Watts, Dan Hunt and Justin Vaive. Assists went to Brendan Taylor (2), Sam Gagner (2), Cody Goloubef (2), John Kurtz, Jacob Truant, Kellan Lain and Kyle Badham. Whitby 4, Oakville 2: the final game of the preliminary round seemed somewhat anticlimactic as only a lopsided loss to W hitby would have prevented Oakville from reaching the final game. The Rangers started well, building a 2-0 lead after the first period. However, for Whitby it was definitely a must-win game and they charged back with four unanswered goals, all in the sec ond period, to set up a rematch in the OMHA championship game. For Oakville, Sam Gagner scored eight seconds into the game, from Kyle Badham. Jacob Truant then followed up with a one-timer off a nice pass from Dan Hunt. (Roster) O akville's finest is made up o f goalies Graem e M offatt and Jerem y W ebster; defencemen M urray Cruickshank, Stu Favretto, Mike Young, Alex C orrance, M ark Friesen, and Cody Goloubef; and forw ards Justin Vaive, Dan Hunt, Kyle Badham, Jordy W atts, John Kurtz, Brendan Taylor, Jacob Truant, Sam G agner and Kellan Lain. Classic on Friday The Halton Classic is a senior and junior all-star boys' basketball game designed to showcase some of Halton's outstanding players. Oakville's White Oaks Secondary School (south cam pus) will be the host of this year's game to be held this Friday (March 23rd). The junior game will start at 7 p.m. to be followed by the senior three-point shootout and slam dunk competi tions. The senior game will start at about 9 p.m. Admission is $3, plus one non-perishable food item. Rosters have not yet been finalized but here are the coaches. VOLPE DIVISION: junior coaches are Mark Freeman and John London (Bishop Reding). Senior coach is Marc Ennis (White Oaks). RICHARDSON DIVISION: coaches are Dave Ferencina and Mike Gallant (Iroquois Ridge). Senior coach is Joey Barrett (Lord Elgin). Minor bantam recap GAME SUMMARIES (Sunday's OMHA championship) OAKVILLE 3. Richmond Hill 2: 1st, 0:22, Nick Prescott from Charlie Giffin and Justin Donati 2nd, 14:13, Daniel Hannigan-Daley from Nick Dodge 3rd, 11:23, Nick Dodge from Daniel Hannigan-Daley and Ryan Wilkinson. 3rd, 5:44, Michael Harknett from James Formusa and Lee Maxwell. 3rd, 0:54, Michael Harknett from Lee Maxwell. (Preliminary Round) OAKVILLE 5. Markham Waxers 2 1st, 1:00, Markham 2nd, 6:30, Tyler Donati from Nick Davis and Victor Oreskovich 2nd, 5:28. Brad McKenzie, from Nick Dodge and Charlie Giffin 2nd, 2:00 Nick Dodge from Ben Heersink 2nd, :24, Markham 3rd, 14:48, Daniel Hannigan Daley from Victor Oreskovich and Charlie Giffin 3rd, 8:01, Nick Dodge from Brad McKenzie and Graham Tough OAKVILLE 6. Niagara Falls 2 1st, 3:52, Niagara Falls 1st, 2:02, Victor Oreskovich from Tyler Donati and Ben Heersink 2nd, 12:08, Daniel Hannigan-Daley from Brad McKenzie and Nick Dodge 2nd, 8:09, Justin Donati from Graham Tough and Andy McDonald 2nd, 3:01. Charlie Giffin from Nick Prescott and Graham Tough 3rd, 14:03. Niagara Falls 3rd, 8:13, Charlie Giffin from Tyler Donati 3rd, 8:07, Daniel Hannigan Daley from Brad McKenzie Richmond Hill 4, OAKVILLE 1 1st, 3:16, Richmond Hill 1st, :16, Richmond Hill 2nd, 8:34. Daniel Hannigan Daley from Nick Dodge and Brad McKenzie 3rd, 14:21, Richmond Hill 3rd. 14:02. Richmond Hill OAKVILLE 7. Si. Catharines 4 1st, 4:25, Victor Oreskovich from Nick Davis and Ben Heersink 1st, 3:33, St. Catharines 1st, 3:10, St. Catharines 2nd, 13:00, Charlie Giffin from Tyler Donati and Victor Oreskovich 2nd, 10:10, Nick Dodge from Brad McKenzie and Nick Prescott 2nd, 6:35, Charlie Giffin from Andy MacDonald 2nd, 5:14, St. Catharines 3rd, 14:43, SL Catharines 3rd, 8:09. Ben Heersink from Nick Dodge 3rd, 7:55. Nick Dodge from Daniel Hannigan-Daley 3rd. 1:09, Nick Davis from Charlie Giffin TEAM BY TEAM RESULTS (Medal round) GOLD MEDAL: Oakville 3, Richmond Hill Oakville's two-time defending OMHA champion minor bantam Rangers Rangers will host again next year (Continued from Back Page Sports) Must be 15 years of age _(as_of Aug._31)_ 2001 TACKLE BANTAM STAMPEDER REP FOOTBALL ^ llK p E o t^ REGISTRATION Saturday, March 24 9am - 3pm Birth Certificate & Health Card Required L0GATI.QN: Equipment Centre (b e h in d N e ls o n H ig h S c h o o l) EOumnNT c o rn u BURLINGTON MINOR FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION For more information check out our website at www.ieagueiineup.com/burlington Of 637-2055 2 BRONZE MEDAL: Markham 4 (20T) Niagara Falls 5, REGISTER EARLY (Preliminary round) 1st., OAKVILLE (3-1): defeated St. Catharines 7-4, Markham 5-2 and Niagara Falls 6-2; lost to Richmond Hill 4-1. 2nd, RICHMOND HILL (2-1-1): defeated Oakville 4-1 and St. Catharines 13-1; tied Markham 1-1; lost to Niagara Falls 4-3. 3rd, MARKHAM (2-1-1): defeated St. Catharines 8-2 and Niagara Falls 4-2; tied Richmond Hill 1-1; lost to Oakville 5-2. 4th, NIAGARA FALLS (2-2): defeated St. Catharines 4-1 and Richmond Hill 4-3; lost to Oakville 6-2 and Markham 4-2. 5th, ST. CATHARINES (0-4): lost to Oakville 7-4, Richmond Hill 13-1, Markham 8-2 and Niagara Falls 4-1. They are all Oakville kids who started loving and learning the game on local streets and arenas. "They're just a wonderful bunch of kids; good families; they're a pleasure to coach," said coach McKenzie. For a while, in last Sunday's OMHA champi onship game, it looked like it was going to be a productive but routine day at the office for the Rangers. A goal in each period by Nick Prescott, Daniel Hannigan-Daley and Nick Dodge, along with strong goaltending by Chris Rowan, had allowed the Rangers to take a 3-0 lead deep into the third period. A crack in the Rangers' armour finally occurred with just under six minutes left in the game. A Richmond Hill one-on-one break was successfully averted but no one caught the trailer and Michael Harknett made no mistake, spoiling Rowan's shutout bid, but hardly sending waves of panic through the stands. That would happen with his second goal, on the power play, with only 54.8 seconds remain ing. It was Rowan's only mistake of the game, as he bounced out a juicy rebound that would have went wide had he just left it. A wild final minute ensued, ending only on a last second, heroic, diving poke check by Oakville defender Ben Heersink, robbing a Richmond Hill player of a point blank shot. "We just wanted to make it interesting," chuckled coach McKenzie. The game almost ended in controversy when Richmond Hill, in the final three minutes, were successful with two stick infraction calls. The first penalty, however, was negated when, just seconds later, a Richmond Hill player was penalized for hauling down an Oakville player on a shorthanded rush. But then they were successful with another stick infraction and did score their second goal on that power play. This left the Oakville supporters fuming. But that's a whole other column. There's no question that it's fair play in the NHL, for instance, but in minor hockey where kids just pur chase their sticks off a rack without much thought to the official fine p rin t...? As far as coach McKenzie's take on it, he said, "I saw it earlier in a Christmas tournament. The Richmond Hill double-A team were playing a team from Toronto and they were calling it all the M IN O R B A N T A M O A K V ILLE R A N G E R S P layers ... Chris Rowan, Connor Farris, Andy M acDonald, Ben Heersink, Graham Tough, Ryan Wilkinson, Brad McKenzie, Tyler Donati, Nick Davis, Dan Ringwald, Nick Prescott, Nick Dodge, Charlie Giffin, Victor Oreskovich, Daniel Hannigan-Daley, Justin Donati and Conlan Gassi. Team s ta ff ... head coach Scott McKenzie: assistant coaches John Davis. Tom Giffin; trainer M ark Rowan; manager Rob Ringwald. time. "You can't buy a legal stick off the rack any more, I don't think. "And we just didn't want to get into that so we didn't try to retaliate and call it against them. Fortunately, it worked out." It was "nice to repeat," he added. The win avenged Oakville's only loss in the preliminary round, at the hands of Richmond Hill. Prior to that loss, Oakville had beaten them twice before in tournament play. But that loss on Friday came with Oakville playing their second game in a row as opposed to being the opener for Richmond Hill. "We played them after two and a half hours, we weren't rested and weren't prepared to play," said McKenzie. "We just came out stronger this time than last time. We forechecked well." He thought his charges played well as a team but did single out one name. "The goaltender came up huge today -- Chris Rowan. He played very, very well. It was unfortu nate especially that last one went in, but he was stupendous in net today." The team will enjoy their accomplishment for a couple of weeks and then focus on next year. Spring tryouts are in less than a month away and a lot of the players like to attend spring camps and hockey schools. After that, said McKenzie, most of the players hang up their skates for most of the summer. But it's not like they become couch potatoes. "It's important to stay in top shape," said McKenzie. "There will be a dryland training pro gram that the boys will be doing. "They do a lot on their own, anyway. There's a lot of bail players and soccer players on the team. And they will have a strength program do to this year to be ready for next year." There's no doubt, though, with their draft year coming up and the opportunity to proceed on to another all-Ontario competition, they'll be chomping at the bit. "We may start earlier in August," conceded McKenzie. Are you between 6 & 14 yrs of age? (§s_Of Aug. 31)_ Bruins win semifinal (Continued from page D5) History lesson There is a little bit of sports history right under out noses in downtown Oakville. The Running Company's exhibit of memorabilia and pho tographs of the historic Around the Bay road race will interest all runners and lovers of sport and sport history. The 30K Around the Bay race in Hamilton is the oldest on the continent. It was first run in 1894, three years before the Boston Marathon. Rich in tradition, it has been run and and won by the best from around the world, including Boston Marathon winner and Olympic gold medalists. The magnificent Herald Cup which for many years was pre sented to the winner is on dis play. The exhibit includes many photographs that trace much of the history of the race. According to Greg McKinnon, manager of the Running Company, being able to "display the history of such a prestigious race is very much an honour. It's our third year of developing and presenting the exhibit." Oakville has a very large number of running enthusiasts. Many will be among the more than 3000 runners expected to enter this year's 107th anniver sary of the race this Sunday (March 25). 20014S# FOOTBALL REGISTRATION For BOYS & GIRLS Saturday March 24 9 am - 3 pm Birth Certificate and Health Card Required Fundraising fA L L Commitment 'L E M U E L S Required LOCATION: Equipment Centre (b e h in d N elson H ig h S c h o o l) BURLINGTON MINOR FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION For more information check out our website at www.ieaguelineup.com/buriington OT 637-2055 REGISTER EARLY Falcons 49-35 with ten minutes left but rallied to win it 70-65. David Martin, named the star of the game, led a balanced Sheridan attack with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Bent scored 11 · Trophies · Non-contact · Balanced teams while Dennis, Denton Daley and Ricardo Edwards each added 10. · Prime time games · Excellent · 28th season of "Defence...defence... that's what did it," said Dennis, as the officiating operation Bruins forced 33 Langara turnovers. · Sweaters/socks provided · Individual entries Applications at RIVER OAKS ARENA, (Semifinal) S GLEN ABI ARENA O R APPLEBY C O LLEG E ARENA In semifinal action, Sheridan erased a five point deficit with a O R PHO N E i minute to go in regulation to beat the #2 ranked Alberta champion (905)849-9712 RECJIS1T.RON SI N. MAR. 2V *) VM.-I I AM. Grant MacEwan Griffins 85-82 in overtime. MON. MARCH 26 " 6 3 0 EM. - S EM. The Bruins, again, were down by five, two minutes into OT but AT RIVER OAKS COM M U N ITY CENTRE scored ten in a row to win it. Dennis, named the player of the game, scored 20 points. Edwards had a good game against Griffin centre and CCAA player of the year Robbie HOME COURT BASKETBALL offers: Valpreda with 17 points and nine rebounds. "I knew when Sheridan was down five that COACHING LEVEL I - TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION they were going to win," said Humber head A comprehensive overview of the technical aspects of bas coach Mike Katz about the Bruins. ketball, including how to run a practice. Great for teachers, That remark is a fitting tribute to the 2000parents, students, coaches, players. Certification at N.C.C.P. 01 Sheridan squad and to the excellent coach Level 1 Technical granted at the completion of the clinic. ing staff of head coach Jim Flack and assis tants Nick Davis and Leroy Cassanova, who Session 1: April 2 , 23,30 TTM4 5 ;,,73.? ' .1?:0° Session 2: May 7,14, 28 Oakville Residents: $d8.dO/PP took a young team with seven freshmen and Regular Fees: $78.50/pp made them Ontario champions and Canadian Please call to register. silver medalists. Sheridan has nothing to hang their heads about and Flack, though disap RECREATIONAL PICK-UP BASKETBALL pointed, summed it up best: Limited spots remain in our girls 14-17 yrs. session "W e're the best defensive team in the on Monday 6:00-7:15 p.m. country... bar none. We won the Ontario's and Only $30/player. CALL TO REGISTER Home c()Uf,T we lost by four points in the national final to the Canadian champions in their gym." Home Court Buskethull. 99 Bronte Road. Suite #221,Oakviflc. ON LBI.3 B7 Steve Walker is Sheridan's sports informa T e l/F a x : ( 9 0 5 ) 4 6 9 -S 6 7 G tion director and has follow ed the team all email: hcb@spectianct.ea www.homecourt basket hall.com season. 1