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Provincial teamers lead King's to first Tier 1 basketball crown by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor 49 | Thursday, November 19, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com King's Christian Collegiate Cavaliers forward Laeticia Amihere (left) blocks a shot attempt by Loyola's Kiana Steinauer. | photo by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver --@Halton_Photog Laeticia Amihere and Christina Morra are each used to being opposing defences' focal point. Once they learned to work together, they realized they were harder to shut down. Amihere scored 21 points and Morra added 19 to lead the King's Christian Collegiate Cavaliers to their first-ever Halton Tier 1 basketball championship Friday at Sheridan College, claiming the senior girls' crown with a 51-45 victory over the Loyola Hawks. "At the beginning (of the season), it was hard because we're both high scorers and it's hard to even it out," Morra said of playing with Amihere, who she joined on the Ontario provincial team this past summer. "I think we've started getting used to it... and it really helps when you have that other person to rely on." Added Amihere, a gold medallist at this year's under-16 FIBA Americas tournament, "If I need the ball, (Christina) knows how to find me. It's great to have two good players on the team. We work it out." Though Amihere is in Grade 9 and Morra is a Grade 10 student, the two create matchup nightmares for teams because of their height, length and athleticism. Loyola wasn't able to overcome those issues in a 64-54 loss to the Cavaliers earlier this fall -- the Hawks' first loss in Halton league play in nearly four years -- and again had no answers for them Friday. "They just pounded us down low," said Loyola coach Sacha Bobanovic. "We thought we could put more pressure on their guards, but they beat our pressure a couple of times, got a couple of easy baskets and made their free throws." Amihere broke the game open with a three-point play with three minutes left, pulling down an offensive rebound, getting fouled on a layup and then making the free throw to put the Cavs up 41-33. Morra added 16 rebounds and made five of six free throws in the fourth quarter. Kiana Steinauer scored 17 points for Loyola, Steph Findlay notched 12 and Kali Pocrnic, also a Grade 9 student, chipped in with eight. King's now shifts its focus towards qualifying for the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) AA championships. The Cavaliers can earn a berth in the tournament with a victory over a Peel challenger this afternoon (Thursday). Loyola could have still qualified for the AAA championships with a win over St. Thomas More in Tuesday's Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference semifinals, but fell 64-52 at home to the Knights. Holy Trinity, which King's defeated in the Halton semis, had its OFSAA hopes ended with a loss Tuesday to St. Mary. Late free throw sinks Loyola juniors A free throw with seven seconds remaining in regulation time gave the Nelson Lords a 20-19 win over Loyola in Friday's junior girls' Tier 1 championship game, also at Sheridan. Dylan Jessiman hit the winning shot for Nelson, shortly after Loyola's Anya Muroh had tied the game with a long three-pointer. The Hawks struggled with turnovers throughout the contest but clawed their way back in the fourth quarter. Loyola was led by an eight-point outing by Emma McEwen, with Kenedy Choma adding four. "We just broke down at the end. We thought we were (still) losing, that's why we fouled. It wasn't on purpose," said Hawks coach Vito Battaglia. Loyola handed the Lords their only regular-season loss, winning 33-30 at Nelson. "I think we're equally as good. It'd be nice if we had a best out of three," Battaglia said. "In my eyes, we're both champions. We both beat each other once, and we both have the same records." -- For a longer version of this story, visit bit.ly/1j6aona Aquinas drops senior volleyball final to Christ the King in five-set heartbreaker continued from p.48 16, 21-25, 15-12 Jaguars victory. "Honestly, both teams played well. We have nothing to be ashamed of," said Raiders captain Jordan Figueira. "They got past our blocks and that led to their victory." "In a game that tight, because we were so evenly matched and it was such a roller coaster, a few mistakes caught up to us," added Aquinas coach Liz Camastro. After surrendering the first two points of the deciding set, the Raiders found themselves playing catch-up the rest of the way, though they never let themselves fall too far behind. Austin Vanzyl and Jigme Gyanatsang did a good job passing the ball to set up the attack while Thomas Dasilva and Figueira delivered key kills. Down 11-8, Aquinas fought back to tie it at 11. This time, the Raiders were not able to finish it off. Down 1312, Aquinas was called for a net violation which set up the Jaguars to finish off the match. "After winning the fourth (set), I was pretty confident we could win the fifth," Figueria said. "I felt like we were going to pull away." That's exactly what Aquinas had done in the crucial fourth set. Like the fifth, they trailed for almost the nas put it up 11-10 but Christ the King answered with a 10-point run that the Raiders couldn't recover from. -- Herb Garbutt (for a longer version of this story, visit bit.ly/2105SZA) King's falls to MMR in TIer 2 final Without Abbey Park to worry about, the M.M. Robinson Rams and the King's Christian Collegiate Cavaliers could decide the Halton senior boys' Tier 2 volleyball championship themselves. Both teams were eliminated by Abbey Park in last year's playoffs, but this season the 8-3 Rams handed 10-1 Abbey Park its only regularseason loss and knocked it out of the playoffs in the semifinals. Monday at Sheridan College, the Rams overcame a slow start to defeat see Cavaliers on p.50 AIRE ONE MADNEss sAlE! HigH EfficiEncy fURnAcE & cEnTRAL AiR St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders captain Jordan Figueira (right) tries to pound the ball through the block of two Christ the King defenders. | photo by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver ONLY $ entire set, though always remaining in striking distance. With the Jaguars up 14-11, Aquinas was able to put together its first sustained run, scoring five straight and taking 12 of the next 14 points. With a two-setter lineup of Figueira and Jacob Szpakowski, the Raiders were able to mix up the attack, involving Dasilva, Michael Franko, Vanzyl as well as Figueira. Vanzyl had a particularly strong set, hammering a kill down the line and, a couple of points later, with defenders converging on him, volleying the ball into a gap in the far back corner. A five-point rally by the Jaguars on set point made the final appear closer. Otherwise, Aquinas was in control. CtK won a close opening set in which neither team held a lead of more than three points. Aquinas built an early 5-1 lead in the second and never trailed. In the third, the teams again traded points. Three straight points by Aqui- PACKAGE INCLUDES: * 3990 $ $ * 95.5% EFF. OR · 95.5% High Efficiency Gas Furnace · High Efficiency Central Air R410A Refrigerant · 10 Year Factory Warranty · Limited Time Offer CaLL For dEtaiLs $ 59 /mth OAC* in o.p.A & gAs compAny rebAtes $1500 up to fURnAcE OSTic DiAgnOSTic ULAR SPEciAL REG 99.00 49 Must Present Coupon. Cannot be Combined with other offers. LimitEd timE onLy! 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