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Sports Oakville Beaver 19 · Wednesday, November 7, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com SPORTS EDITOR:JONKUIPERIJ Phone 905-632-0588 (ext. 294) email sports@oakvillebeaver.com Loyola, Abbey Park to meet in final Familiar foes to contest senior girls' basketball title Friday By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLEBEAVERSTAFF By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR as he attempts to block Iroquois Ridge's Johnathon Moate (14) in Halton senior boys` Tier 2 volleyball play. Aquinas won 2-0 to finish the regular season 10-0, without having dropped a set, while second-place Iroquois Ridge fell to 8-2. BLOCK PARTY: Sam Costin (8) of the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders leaps ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER / @HALTON_PHOTOG Loyola coach Tina De Carvalho's biggest criticism of her senior girls squad this season is that it hasn't played an entire game of solid basketball. Fortunately for the Hawks, one strong quarter is often enough. Loyola scored all the points it needed in the first eight minutes of Monday's Halton Tier 1 semifinal contest against the Bishop Reding Royals, blitzing the visitors 22-0 in the opening frame. The Hawks increased that lead to 40-4 by halftime before going into cruise control, downing the Royals 62-18. Loyola will shoot for its second consecutive regional Tier 1 title Friday at Sheridan College against the Abbey Park Eagles, who earned their berth in the title game with a 42-30 win Monday at Holy Trinity. The Hawks easily defeated Abbey Park 64-35 last month in regular-season play. In fact, Loyola has won all of its league games this fall by 22 points or more. But despite Loyola's dominance, Hawks guard Sarah Traynor said she and her teammates were a bit nervous going into Monday's game. "We beat (Bishop Reding) by one last year in the quarters. That kind of stuff happens in the playoffs," said Traynor, who had a game-high 22 points. "We weren't really worried, but there's that thought in the back of your head that this could be the last game of the year. That's how we have to approach it." Alex Ruscica added 12 points for Loyola Monday, Jaelyne Kirkpatrick scored 11, Emily Wilk notched nine and Sam Pocrnic contributed eight. O'Neill top Oakville finisher at OFSAA cross country meet Loyola's Kristen O'Neill was the top local finisher at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association cross-country championships in Brampton Saturday. O'Neill, who won last week's Golden Horseshoe championship in Brampton, finished 13th in the midget girls' race. She completed the three-kilometre Heart Lake Conservation Area course in 12 minutes and 23 seconds, leaving her just two seconds out of a top-10 finish. Christine Morris of White Oaks was 45th. Bridget O'Neill of Loyola was 16th in the senior girls race with a time of 18:30 over the five-kilometre course. GHAC champion Evelyne Guay of Abbey Park was 65th in a time of 19:34. Liam Murphy of Loyola, the GHAC midget boys' champ, was 28th, completing the five-kilometre course in 17:43. Teammate Jaydon Wiggins was 41st. GHAC winner Emily Ramier of T.A. Blakelock was 60th in the junior girls race. The Abbey Park Eagles waited a long time for this but none more so than Rasheeka Gunna and Leah Fleming. The Eagles teammates had played rep basketball together since they were 11 and had both been on Abbey Park's senior basketball squad since they were in Grade 9. So when they finally defeated Holy Trinity 42-30 to advance to Friday's Halton final, there was a sense of both relief and of accomplishment. "(Rasheeka) is like my sister," said Fleming. "Honestly, this means a lot for us to get to do this together." While the duo has had plenty of success in rep -- the won the Eastern Canadian championships in 2008 with the Oakville Venom and gold at 2010 Ontario Summer Games (the latter including Eagles teammate Devyn MacKenzie) -- the closest they have come to a Halton final was last year when they were knocked out in the semifinals. "In Grade 9 we barely made the playoffs. We got the last spot," Gunn said. "Each year we've taken a step. To make the final means so much to us." It will be a familiar opponent Friday at Sheridan College. The Loyola Hawks, riding an undefeated season, are the same team that ended the Hawks' bid for the final last year. Also, Gunn and Fleming have played rep basketball with Loyola's Sarah Traynor, Emily Wilk and Alex Ruscica. Loyola easily won the regular season meeting 64-35, but the Eagles feel they have improved since the early October game. And they can take heart in a pre-season win over their rivals. Besides, they have already beaten one higher-ranked opponent. While standings may have pegged Abbey Park (9-2) as the underdog against Holy Trinity (10-1) Monday, in fact, very little separated the two teams. Abbey Park scored more points (536-520) than the Titans while allowing only slightly more (380-375). And in their one regular season meeting, Holy Trinity needed a late rally to edge the Eagles 47-45. See Improved, page 20 NO NHL... NO PROBLEM! Puck Drop 7:30 PM at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex Friday Night YOUR BLADES HAVE THE BEST ATTENDANCE IN THE OJHL, THANK YOU OAKVILLE! Any MOHA/Hornet players FREE, All MOHA/Hornets Coaching Staffs FREE, Oakville Blades Alumni FREE Oakville Blades vs. Toronto Lakeshore Patriots Adults $5, Students/Seniors $2, Kids FREE