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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Wednesday, November 13, 2013 | 26 Webb claims first hoops title by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff Samantha Murray of the Garth Webb Chargers (left) fades away for a shot Friday at Sheridan College. Murray hit the shot to account for two of her game-high 12 points, leading the Garth Webb Chargers to a 37-26 victory over the Lester B. Pearson Patriots in the Halton high school junior girls' basketball Tier 2 final. | photo by Nikki Wesley -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog Two weeks into the season, it would have been easy to write off the Garth Webb Chargers. Sure, the junior girls' basketball team had reached the Halton Tier 2 final last fall in the school's inaugural year. But Webb had lost three of its starters from that team -- two to seasonending injuries before the season even began, and one to transfer. And after suffering just one loss the previous year, the Chargers started the 2013 campaign 1-2. "There was no point being negative," said point guard Priya Mehla. "If you think negatively, you're going to lose. If you stay positive, there's always a chance." Still, it would have been hard to envision the way the rest of the season would pan out. Garth Webb finished the year with 11 straight wins, capped by Friday's 37-26 victory over the Lester B. Pearson Patriots in the Halton Tier 2 final at Sheridan College. With Webb clinging to a two-point lead in the final minute of the third quarter, Samantha Murray keyed an 11-3 Charger run that sent Webb on its way to its first basketball title. "I think it helps that they're a year older and it probably helped that they lost last year," said Chargers coach Dan Bonanca. "It gave them motivation. The girls really wanted to win it." "We only had one objective," said Mehla, who had 11 points for the Chargers, including a late three-pointer that removed any doubt as to the outcome. "We wanted to win this. To lose three starters and to come back here and win, it's incredible." Coincidentally, it was a 35-23 victory over Pearson that kickstarted Webb's win streak. The Chargers would not lose another game the rest of the year, including a 60-56 overtime victory in the semifinal against T.A. Blakelock, the team that beat Webb in last year's final. Webb carried that momentum into the final against Pearson, which had finished first in the league by winning 11 in a row since its lone loss to the Chargers. Led by Mehla's eight points in the first quarter, Webb jumped out to a 12-5 lead. Pearson would limit Webb to just two points in the second quarter as it cut the lead to 14-13 at the half. The teams took turns controlling the game in the third, with Pearson answering six straight points by Webb with a 7-2 run of its own. Eventually, Webb's advantage in size proved too much for the Patriots. With Elexa Stolzer (13 rebounds) and Leah Kremer (five) dominating the boards and Chantal Pande (four) also providing a good physical presence under the basket, Webb was able control the ball. They fed Murray, who drained several underhanded layups on the fast break. Murray scored eight of her game-high 12 points in the final quarter. "When they're controlling the rebounds like that, you have to be incredibly efficient," said Pearson coach Corey Trodd, "because you're not getting a lot of second opportunities." Despite a slow start to their season, the Chargers got a second opportunity in the Halton final. And they positively made the most of it. Seven of eight Tier 2 football semifinalists are from Oakville Blades win third in past week No Oakville teams will win a Halton high school football Tier 1 title this season, but there's a strong chance the town will boast two Tier 2 champions. All four semifinalists in the Halton junior Tier 2 playoffs are from Oakville, while three of the four in the senior Tier 2 playoffs are also local teams. Junior St. Thomas Aquinas, T.A. Blakelock, Oakville Trafalgar and Iroquois Ridge are the Oakville teams to advance to the junior semifinals, which will be held tomorrow (Thursday). Aquinas will visit 7-0 Blakelock at Bronte Athletic Field, and Iroquois Ridge will take on Oakville Trafalgar at Ridge. Both games are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. starts. Senior Only a triple-overtime loss by Oakville Trafalgar prevented an all-Oakville semifinal field in senior Tier 2. The Red Devils fell 16-10 last week to Milton's Bishop Reding, which will visit White Oaks tomorrow in one semi (2:30 p.m.). Undefeated Blakelock will host Iroquois Ridge for a 12:30 p.m. kickoff in the other semifinal contest at Bronte. Ridge is coming off a 28-7 upset of Aquinas in the last round. The Oakville Blades blanked the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots 4-0 Monday at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, Oakville's third straight win in Ontario Junior Hockey League play. Ryan Garvey, Ross Sloan, Kamil Tkaczuk and Dalton Bew tallied Monday for the Blades, with Evan Buitenhuis recording the shutout. In other recent action, the Blades defeated the East Divisionleading Kingston Voyageurs 6-2 Thursday and the struggling Orangeville Flyers 2-1 Friday. Marcel Fatovic (two), Carmine Vietri, David Dischiavi, Greg Allen and Sloan had Oakville's goals against Kingston, and Chris Polotek and Dischiavi netted singles versus the Flyers. OAKVILLE BLADES VS. NORTH YORK RANGERS Friday, November 15th at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex Puck Drops at 7:30pm Adults $7, Students/Seniors $5, Kids FREE LOCAL JUNIOR A HOCKEY AT ITS BEST!