www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, November 15, 2012 · 32 Wildcats tamed in first Tier 1 final appearance in decades come. White Oaks' Alex Dodds was well aware of what the undefeated Rebels were capable The White Oaks Wildcats' season ended of. He plays with several of the Georgetown the same way as last year -- with a loss to players on the McMaster rep team. And, the Georgetown Rebels. though the Wildcats may not have had as That may have been the only similarity much volleyball experience as their counbetween the 2011 and 2012 senior boys' vol- terparts, Dodds said White Oaks had other leyball campaigns for the Wildcats, though. strengths to help balance the play. While last year's loss came in the quar"We're a more athletic team," Dodds ter-finals after a 6-5 showing, the Wildcats said. "I think if it was (best-of-five) sets we won 11 of 13 matches this season to advance would have a better chance against them." to Monday's Halton chamWhite Oaks used that pionship game at Sheridan "It wasn't our best game, athleticism to its advantage College. For a team that but we had a strong throughout the season, by had not been in a regional varying its attack. season and we're doing Tier 1 volleyball final in "We started running more than 20 years, it was a a better job of building more through the middle," a good program." significant step forward. Dodds said. "We used to "It wasn't our best run plays mostly on the game," White Oaks coach White Oaks senior boys' outside." Kate St. Onge said of the volleyball coach Kate St. Onge White Oaks did that Wildcats' 25-15, 25-19 loss, more effectively in the sec"but we had a strong season and we're doing ond set, with Demyan Plakhov delivering a better job of building a good program." several big kills, Dodds directing the ball White Oaks won as many matches this into open spots in coverage and Marco season as it had in the previous two seasons Floino, Erec Kingston and Joel Furlan combined since returning to the Tier 1 doing an effective job blocking. ranks, going 11-13 before this year's breakWhite Oaks was tied 9-9 and was within through. St. Onge said this year's Wildcats three points (21-18) late in the second set team showed camaraderie from the begin- before Georgetown took four of the last five ning of the season and that translated to the points. court where the players communicated betWith five returning players, including ter with one another. Plakhov, Dodds said White Oaks should be The one missing element for White Oaks able to sustain the success it achieved this was experience. season. "We came in as underdogs and I think "We have a couple of guys coming up the pressure got us early on," St. Onge said. from the junior team (which went 9-2)," the "Georgetown expects to be here." Grade 12 student said. The Rebels, seemingly more comfortable "(The Halton final experience) will be in the surroundings of the large Sheridan good for them. We'll have a good program gym, jumped out to an early 12-3 lead in the next year." first set. Though the Wildcats mounted a couple of runs, splitting the final 16 points, -- Herb Garbutt can be followed the deficit proved to be too much to overon Twitter @Herbgarbutt By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLEBEAVERSTAFF MICHAEL IVANIN / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER KILLJOY: White Oaks Wildcats player Demyan Plakhov goes up for a spike against Georgetown blocker Braden Leonard during Monday's Halton high school senior boys' volleyball Tier 1 final. The Wildcats fell 25-15, 25-19 in their first Tier 1 final appearance in more than 20 years. Overtime victory snaps Blades' skid Nathan Renouf (pictured, right) scored with 58 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Oakville Blades a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots last Friday at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. Eric Chore and Spencer Green scored during regulation time for the Blades, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Evan Buitenhuis made 33 saves to record the victory in goal. The Blades (14-5-3) lead the Ontario Junior Hockey League's South Division by two points over the St. Michael's Buzzers. Oakville will be home to the Toronto Junior Canadiens tomorrow (Friday) at Sixteen Mile (a 7:30 p.m. start), then visit the Mississauga Chargers Saturday at 8 p.m. Titans win Pinky Lewis Led by Trevon McNeil, the Holy Trinity Titans won the championship at the prestigious Pinky Lewis high school boys' basketball tournament last weekend in Hamilton. McNeil scored 21 points in Trinity's 60-49 victory over Newmarket in the championship game and was named tournament MVP. Regis Ivaniukas added 13 points and Nolan Mackenzie had nine. The Titans also won their other five games by double-digit margins. Trinity downed Hamilton Glendale 68-42, Hamilton St. Mary's 62-42 and Pickering Pine Ridge 74-23 in round-robin play, then defeated Kitchener Cameron Heights 70-57 in the quarter-finals and Villanova 53-42 in the semis. McNeil had 21 points and Nick Nernest scored 14 in the victory over Cameron Heights. Ivaniukas led the Titans with 19 points against Villanova, and Mackenzie contributed 17. Ivaniukas and Mackenzie were named tournament first team allstars. The Titans, ranked fourth in the Greater Toronto Area by basketball website HooptownGTA.com, will compete in the Humber College Classic this weekend. Trinity's first game will be against sixth-ranked Toronto Oakwood Friday at 4 p.m. PHOTO COURTESY OJHL IMAGES