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STA is two-time Tier 2 runner-up continued from p.22 Everyone's goal was to win the championship. "We had the horses, they had the commitment. Other teams were really well-coached with good X's and O's, but I just felt our guys wanted it from June. Actually, from last fall," the coach added. "There were tears in December. It ate away at them." OT opened the scoring Wedneday on a perfectly-placed pass from Cutcliffe to Adrian Van de Camp, who made a fingertip reception in the back corner of the end zone for an 11-yard TD catch midway through the first quarter. The Red Devils scored a rouge in the second quarter to take an 8-0 lead into halftime, and added on with a 18yard touchdown pass from Cutcliffe to Trevor Ogilvie in the final minute of the third. Aquinas appeared to have new life on the punt return by Mardner -- "I think we had seven or eight guys get two hands on him. That touchdown was well-earned by a really good player," D'Alesio said -- but any momentum was quickly snuffed out by Manning's first TD. The Raiders also struggled to put together any sustained drives. "They switched up their defence a little," Aquinas coach Bryon Hickey said of the Red Devils. "When you have all 12 guys out there making plays and being physical, yardage is a little harder to come by." Aquinas was also a Tier 2 finalist last year, but Hickey said there was no frustration in being the two-time runnersup. "Our goal is to get better each year. We want to maximize our potential each year, and I think we were pretty close to that," Hickey said. "We maximized the amount of days we could practise and play. Even though we didn't get the result, we tell the guys a lot of the anxiety is about falling short or the ride ending early. "We got to the championship. Things didn't go our way. But over the course of the whole season, they did a great job to get here." 23 | Friday, November 20, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Sharp-shooters lead Blakelock to junior girls' Tier 2 crown Over the past two seasons, the T.A. Blakelock Tigers had won 23 of 25 games, including a perfect 12-0 mark this year. So Tigers coach Scott Stevens knew he had a good team. But even as they looked to atone for last year's loss in the Halton Tier 2 junior girls' basketball final last Friday at Sheridan College, his players still had some surprises for him. As a Grade 9 student, Alexa Duric led Blakelock with 17 points in last year's final, a 44-37 loss to Corpus Christi. Again a key component of the Tigers offence this year -- and the tallest player on the team -- she pulled down rebounds and scored in the paint. But with Blakelock trailing 1613 to start the second half Friday, the Tigers' post player took a pass on the right wing, looked at her options, then pulled up and nailed a game-tying three-pointer. "Our coach said, `I didn't know you could shoot like that,'" Duric said. Duric, who plays shooting guard on her Oakville Vytis rep team, would add another three to end the quarter, capping a 16-point frame for Blakelock -- more points than it scored in the entire first half. That gave the Tigers a 29-22 lead on their way to a 37-30 win over Georgetown's Christ the King Jaguars to claim the Halton title that eluded them last season. Duric, who finished with a team-high 12 points, wasn't the only one showing off her shooting skills. Her Vytis teammate, Jordan Merner, hit two of her three treys in the opening quarter as Blakelock built an 11-8 lead. Despite the shooting prowess, Stevens said defence has been the team's strength. The Tigers have allowed the fewest points in Tier 2 in each of the last two seasons. They allowed just 16.2 points per game this season. Down three at half, Blakelock turned the tables on the Jaguars in the second half. Led by Avery Murray and Duric, the Tigers controlled the defensive boards, limiting CtK's chances and feeding their own offence during a 14-2 run that put the game away. Caitlin Dougall had seven points for Blakelock, Murray had six, Amy Ecclestone had two and Emma DeSouza had one. "It would have been sad to lose (in the final) again, but I believed that we could win," Duric said. -- Herb Garbutt Les Loups knock off league's top two seeds before falling in final continued from p.22 fought off match point six times, rallying from a 14-8 deficit in the deciding set to win 18-16. Les Loups were not done yet, though. They swept another 10-1 team, King's Christian Collegiate, in the semifinals. And rather than simply clearing Pearson's path to the championship -- the Patriots' only two losses came against the teams Sainte-Trinité eliminated -- les Loups quickly showed Monday they weren't simply happy just to be in the final. Sainte-Trinité built a 5-1 lead in the opening set as Cerentola found holes in Pearson's coverage. The Patriots battled back to tie the set, then scored six straight points for a 13-9 advantage on their way to a 25-19 win. The second set saw les Loups charge out to an 8-0 lead behind the serving of Joshua Bouchard and with Mic Desautels setting Cerentola for several kills. Nolan Guertin picked up a couple of aces as he served up Sainte-Trinité's second eight-point run, giving his team a commanding 18-3 advantage and eventual 25-16 win. In the third and deciding set, it was Pearson which started quickly, taking an 8-2 lead. But a big kill by les Loups' Brandon Clementhino after the changeover sparked his team. Desautels followed with an ace and soon after Sainte-Trinité was within a point. Even when a three-point Pearson rally set up match point, Sainte-Trinité refused to give in. A missed Pearson attack and a well-placed volley to the back corner by Matthew Howard had the makings of another Sainte-Trinité miracle. But when les Loups' next serve missed, their Cinderella run came to an end. "We're a pretty small school," Desautels said. "It's always an accomplishment when you do something for the first time. For us to make it this far, that's huge for us." -- For a longer version of this story, visit bit.ly/1l7P3Ls WINTER BREAK CAMPS 2015 SPEND THE HOLIDAYS WITH THE TOP HOCKEY CAMP IN OAKVILLE DECEMBER 21ST-24TH NOTICE OF MEETING Deerfield Golf & Recreation Centre Ltd. 2363 North Service Road West Oakville, Ontario L6M 3H8 Will be holding their 2015 IPM Public Meeting to discuss turf grass maintenance applications on: Tuesday, November 24, 2015 At Deerfield Golf & Recreation Centre Ltd., 1:30 - 2:00pm Please RSVP to Ian McIsaac- 905-847-5555, Ext. 1 Notice is hereby given that: Notice of IPM Meeting Notice is hereby given that Oakville Executive Golf Course will be holding their Public IPM Meeting on Thursday November 26th at 10:00 am at 4414 4th Line Oakville, ON L6M 4E8 If you plan on attending, please email or call katrina@oakvillegolf.ca · 905-875-3932 ICESPORTS.COM/OAKVILLE FACEBOOK.COM/CANLANOAKVILLE