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36 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2008 PHOTOS BY MICHAEL IVANIN / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER TOUGH TASK: The Iroquois Ridge Trailblazers had their hands full Wednesday when they took on the defending Halton AAA champion Nelson Lords in Halton high school senior boys' basketball second-round playoff action. Left, Patrick Gauthier (in black) attemps to alter the shot of Nelson's Brady Heslip. Above, Jordan Clarke (with ball) drives around Lords defender Aron Campbell. Nelson eliminated Ridge with a 83-44 win. Aquinas, Trinity wins set up crosstown senior hoops semi Loyola, Iroquois Ridge eliminated with losses By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Lords got up early and cruised to a 83-44 triumph over the Iroquois Ridge Trailblazers. Assumption and Nelson will square off in today's other semifinal, a 3:30 p.m. start at Nelson. Aquinas wins tight one The undefeated Raiders had a tough time shaking off a scrappy Georgetown squad that slowed the game down, minimized possessions and stayed within striking distance throughout. Aquinas led throughout, though unable to build an advantage of more than 10 points, and its lead was trimmed to two with two minutes remaining. But the Raiders managed to stay composed and, as coach Mark Maga pointed out, accomplished the most important thing -- a win. "It doesn't matter if you win by one or 30, we get to move on," said Maga. "Over the last week, we've grown and learned so much about our composure and maturity. I think this past week has helped us out a lot." The Raiders were finalists at the AllCatholic championships last weekend, where they defeated Hamilton powerhouse Cathedral in overtime. Kyle Enright (16), Jon Silver (14) and Trevor Williams were Aquinas' top scorers against Georgetown. Big man Ryan Thomson, hounded by foul trouble as well as the Georgetown defence, was limited to three points. Titans sharp early Coming off a first-round bye, the Titans showed no ill effects of a layoff against Notre Dame, which had defeated Christ the King two days earlier in the opening round. Trinity cranked up the defence in the opening 24 minutes, holding the Irish to 21 first-half points and carrying a 15-point lead into intermission. Though Titans coach Andrew Saulez felt his team slipped a bit in the second half, allowing Notre Dame to make a game of it, he was pleased with the effort. "We played well," he said. "I don't know if we thought the game was done, but Notre Dame played very well in the second half and kept coming at us. We were probably starting to look forward a bit (to Aquinas)." Pat Moskal led the Titans' scoring charge with 18 points. Jahmal McQueen added 17 and Dave Ozimec contributed 12. Hawks overpowered late The Hawks' reward for an 8-2 regularseason showing? Having to play a firstround game Monday against Robert Bateman, then travel to Assumption Wednesday for a meeting with the tough Crusaders (who boasted an 8-2 record of their own). Assumption ended the first quarter with a 14-0 run to build an eight-point lead, but Loyola managed to tie the game 26-26 by halftime. However, the Crusaders opened the third with a 9-0 spurt and slowly took control, taking advantage of second-chance opportunities to prevail by 14. "I thought Loyola showed a lot of spirit and played with a lot of aggressiveness," said Assumption coach Anthony Cordeiro. "They are very disciplined and well coached. Our inside game on the boards and (our guard play) took over the game gradually." The Hawks' loss spoiled an impressive outing by Ostap Chiloy, who led all scorers with 21 points. Adam Pressutti scored 10 All the home favourites prevailed in Wednesday's Halton high school Division 1 senior boys' basketball playoffs quarter-final round, though the biggest favourite of all got a good scare. The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders survived a tough test from the Georgetown Rebels, pulling out a 47-41 victory to move on to today's semifinals. Aquinas will be opposed by the Holy Trinity Titans, who built a 15point halftime lead and then held on for a 69-59 win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Raiders and Titans are slated to clash at 4 p.m. today at Aquinas, with the winner moving on to the Halton final next Wednesday at Sheridan College. In the other quarter-final contests, the Assumption Crusaders made a second-half surge to pull away from the Loyola Hawks and earn a 64-50 victory, while the Nelson See Ridge page 37