48 Sports Oakville Beaver www.aplushomes.ca from 2 .4% ·Full MLS ·Full Service Call ADAM CAMPBELL Broker 905-844-4444 SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2007 Unbeaten again, Jr. Wildcats seek postseason success White Oaks volleyball players motivated by last season's playoff disappointment By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF T he White Oaks Wildcats junior girls' volleyball team knows better than anyone else that an undefeated regular season means nothing when it's playoff time. Last season, the Wildcats were a perfect 10-0 before being bounced in the opening round of the Halton high school playoffs by E.C. Drury. This year, despite losing five of their six starters, the Wildcats put together their second straight undefeated season, and Monday they advanced to today's (Wednesday's) semifinals with a 25-9, 25-18 victory over the M.M. Robinson Rams. "For me personally, how soon we went out last year, I know I learned from it," said the Wildcats' Kate Croft. Croft got her first start as a high school player in last year's playoff loss after the Wildcats lost Carrie Kalata and Arlene Van Der "For me personally, Hoop to injury. Both Kalata and Van Der Hoop have how (quickly) we since moved on to the senior squad, leaving the junwent out last year, I iors with only one player -- Shannon Stack -- who saw significant court time last season. know I learned "They've really matured as a group," said Wendy from it." Oldershaw, who coaches the team with Karry Brabenec. "They've jelled as a team and they've been White Oaks Wildcats' slowly building since the start of the season. They've Kate Croft been committed since day one." The Wildcats face a huge test just to get to Friday's final. In today's semifinal, they will visit the Georgetown Rebels (a 4:45 p.m. start in Georgetown). The Rebels are coming off a 10-0 season of their own. White Oaks played Georgetown once this season at a tournament at E.C. Drury, losing in three sets in a match where they were missing Stack, one of their main offensive threats. Even with Stack, defeating the Rebels, who have won seven of the last nine Halton championships, will still be a difficult task for a school that has never won a girls' volleyball crown. "We're ready to change that," Stack said. The Wildcats came into the playoffs on a high after winning the recent Oakville Trafalgar tournament. In Monday's victory over the Rams, the Wildcats showed just how dominant a team they can be. After a slow start in which the teams traded points in the early going of the opening game, Jaclyn Devreese took over serving duties with her team trailing 9-8. She would be the last person to serve. Spurred on by their enthusiastic fans, the Wildcats reeled off 17 straight points -- including four aces by Devreese -- to win 25-9. It was a run that could be dismissed as a fluke; that is, if Devreese hadn't served up 15 in a row in the Wildcats' BARRIE ERSKINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER See Final page 55 HARD-HITTING: White Oaks Wildcats player Kate Croft (right) goes up for a spike against M.M. Robinson Rams' Tori Feere during the Wildcats' Halton high school junior girls' volleyball playoff victory over the Rams. White Oaks, undefeated in regular-season action the past two seasons, will visit the Georgetown Rebels today in a regional semifinal contest. DRIVING: St. Thomas Aquinas' Kyle Enright (left) was the Raiders' most potent weapon in yesterday's Halton high school senior boys' basketball playoff game at Aquinas, finishing the contest with 30 points and leading the Raiders to a 61-49 victory. Enright is pictured driving around Acton Bearcats opponent Anthony Gilbert. LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER 'Real big task' awaits Raiders Aquinas senior boys' basketball coach Ron Esteban didn't feel he needed to consult an outof-town scoreboard before assessing his squad's chances in tomorrow's Halton AA final. The Raiders' likely opponent will be Burlington's Lester B. Pearson Patriots, who rolled to a 9-1 record in West Division play this season -- despite being grouped with three teams that will compete for an AAAA Halton title this season. Pearson hosted the Burlington Central Trojans in yesterday's other AA semifinal; results were not available at press time. "We have a long way to go to overcome a veteran team like Pearson," Esteban said after the Raiders downed Acton 61-49 at Aquinas yesterday afternoon. "It will be a real big task for us. Our inexperience and our age will show in that final. I hope we're capable of overcoming it long enough for us to be competitive into the fourth quarter, and then, in the fourth quarter, who knows." Kyle Enright led Aquinas yesterday with 30 points, while Ryley Wright and Adrien Staples added eight apiece. The Raiders led 32-12 at halftime in a game that turned into Foulfest 2K7 down the stretch, as the Bearcats tried to prolong the game and their comeback hopes. Starting times for tomorrow's Halton junior and senior basketball finals at Sheridan College had not yet been determined at press time. In AAA competition, both the Loyola Hawks and Iroquois Ridge Trailblazers were eliminated in yesterday's semifinals. The Nelson Lords pulled away from Loyola with a strong second half, defeating the Hawks 58-37 at Nelson. Matt Ozimec had 10 points for Loyola. Ridge lost a heartbreaker to the Bishop Reding Royals as Al Alilovic drained the winning basket with three seconds remaining in regulation.