D 4 - The Oakville Beaver, W e d n e s d a y F e b ru a ry 27, 2002 Sheridan clinches first place The Sheridan Bruins clinched first place as they over whelmed visiting George Brown Huskies 94-76 Friday night. It was sweet revenge for the Bruins who were knocked out o f top spot in the national m en's college basketball rankings when they dropped a 70-63 decision to George Brown on Jan. 30 -- their first defeat o f the year. Subsequently, the Bruins, in a mini swoon, would get by Seneca Sting 69-59 on Feb. 8 but then lose a close and controversial one, 93-86 to M ohaw k College in overtim e on Feb. 12. Since that time, however, the Bruins appear to be back on track with three wins in a row -- 90-89 over Humber on Feb. 15, 66-45 over C entennial on Feb. 19 and 94-76 over George Brown on Feb. 22. And two o f those wins are against their closest rivals -- H um ber and George Brown. Sheridan last year defeated Humber in the provincial championship but lost to them in the national cham pi onship. And this year, Sheridan has won all three regular season showdowns. Against George Brown, the win was im por tant in that it gave Sheridan the 2-1 edge in the series showdown. Had George Brown won, they would have put them selves in a position to lock up first place with a win in their final game against Hum ber last night (Tuesday). George Brown led the showdown early, at 16-12, but the Bruins exploded with a 15-0 run to lead 27-16. George Brown rallied but a 10-0 Sheridan run helped the Bruins take a 50-38 lead into the break. George Brown had a final rally to cut the deficit to 6560 but that's as close as they would come. Sheridan has now won five of the last six OCAA Central League titles -- no small feat in an always tough and com petitive division. "We ran our offence really well," said coach Jim Flack who got contributions from everyone. Vance King scored 25 points and dished out five assists. Elvis Dennis added 17 points. Jordan M orrison scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. David M artin scored 12 and Hugh Bent chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds. Wilton Edwards replied with 22 points for George Brown. Halton basketball championships (Continued from page D1) Silver Stick finals in Port Huron, Michigan (Continued from page D3) ed by Jeff Nabeta and Ringwald. On Jan. 21, there was nothing close about the game with Oakville winning 9-1. Kevin Sinclair popped in two while Mark Harris, Corey Halyk, Kyle MacDonald, M ario M ancuso, Josh Johnson, Daniel Ringwald and Craig Shimoda added single markers. Assists were earned by Jeff Nabeta (3), Halyk (2), Ryan Mant (2), Ringwald (2), Johnson, Mancuso and Mark Irish. On Jan. 23, Oakville finished off the series with a 4-1 win. Kyle MacDonald scored on the power play and Josh Johnson, Kevin Sinclair and Mark Mclsaac had one apiece. Assisting were Mark Harris (2), M clsaac, Stephen Ferguson, Jeff Nabeta and Sinclair. On Feb. 4, a close 2-1 win gave Oakville the series victory. Corey Halyk had an unassisted goal and captain Kevin Sinclair tallied one on a pass from Craig Shimoda. Harris led the way with a pair of goals while Corey Halyk, Josh Johnson and Jeff Nabeta added one each, the latter into an empty net. SILVER STICK In late January, the Oakville Rangers bantam AA rep team traveled to Port Huron, Michigan to participate in the Silver Stick Finals. Their first match-up paired them with the tournament's eventual winning team from Long Island, New York. Although the Rangers were only down two goals at the end of two periods, their oppo nents hammered in four unanswered goals in the third for the 6-0 win. Several hours later, a rejuvenated Oakville team posted a 4-1 victory over a team from Glenn Ellyn, Illinois. Jeff Nabeta led the way with two goals while team mates Kyle MacDonald and Mark Harris tallied single markers. Assisting were Mark Dvemechuk, Mark Mclsaac, Kevin Sinclair, Craig Shimoda, Daniel Ringwald, Josh Johnson and Corey Halyk. Although he was battling the flu, goalie Conlan Gassi was instrumental in this win. It must be noted that the officiating in this prestigious tournament was less than stellar from the outset. The quarter final game that the Rangers participated in was a penalty-ridden match against Ajax, Ontario. Despite a solid effort from Oakville, the final result was a 5-2 loss. Scoring for the Rangers were Mark Mclsaac and Corey Halyk with assists from Kyle MacDonald, Ryan Mant and Kevin Sinclair. (Third round/Brampton) Next to succumb to the bantam AA's winning style of play was Brampton who had finished the regular season in first place. On Feb. 9, in Brampton, Oakville pulled out all the stops for a 4-2 win. Corey Halyk scored twice while Mark Mclsaac and Kevin Sinclair contributed one apiece. Assists were earned by Jeff Nabeta (3), Tyler Wood, Mark Irish. Josh Johnson* and Corey Halyk. Mike Mierzwa was solid between the pipes. On Feb. 11, Brampton opened the scoring but Oakville replied with four unanswered goals for the 4-1 win, the latter goal into an empty net. Oakville goals were scored by Mark Dvemechuk, Kevin Sinclair, Mark Harris and Jeff Nabeta. Assists went to Craig Shimoda (3), Irish, Harris and Johnson. On Feb. 13, Brampton staved off one do-or-die game with a 6-2 win. They were up three goals before Daniel Ringwald pocketed one on a power play, and although Craig Shimoda added another goal, midway through the third period, it was clear that Oakville would not be sweeping this series. Assists were tallied by Kyle M acDonald, Mark Mclsaac, Tyler Wood and Mark Harris. On Feb. 19, back in Oakville, the bantam AA's were back in fine form for the entire game, winning 5-2. Mark the Halton finalist (Aquinas). Aquinas are, no doubt, disappoint ed, but even they would admit they would have had their work cut out for them. Nelson is preceded by a lot of hype. They've been second in the Star rank ings, behind only Eastern Commerce, for the entire year; they're the defend ing OFSAA provincial champions; and last Friday marked their ninth straight trip to the Halton champi onships. Interestingly enough, half a decade back, Aquinas and Nelson had a mem orable three-year showdown in which Aquinas won two out of three. That was back in the days when the Raiders were led by Rodney Baptiste, Ben Gorham and company. On Friday, Nelson were full value for their reputation. First they established their patented stifling defence, not allowing an Aquinas point until midway through the first quarter. Mind you, Nelson were not exactly lighting the boards up themselves, leading only 10-3 after the first quar ter. After that, however, their offence also showed up, pummeling 16, 18 and 16 points, respectively, in the ensuing quarters. That translated into a half time lead of 26-10 and a three-quarter lead of 44-16. "A lot of these guys have never played in such a big game," said Mike Giammichele who coaches the Raiders along with Slavko Ray, "and they (Nelson) obviously have. They're defending OFSAA champions. "They're experienced, we're not. "They have that explodability." Leading scorers for Nelson were Graham Dow (13), Jim Robinson (11), Ben Fielding (7) and Devon Cornelius (7). For Aquinas, scoring was spread out and therefore obviously low -- Joey Hill (5), Bryan Pozzobon (5), Chris Hornby (4), John Burgess (3) and Chris Ferreira (3). "This team (Nelson) is just a differ ent ilk than what we've seen," said Giammichele. "We knew that they were the best in Halton and we were the second best in Halton. A lot of teams don't think that, but we're here, and a lot o f teams would like to be here. So I'm just happy for the boys." As to what he can tell his shell shocked charges, he said: "think about how you feel, right know, but know you'll have another chance at them on Thursday, hopefully. We have to take care of business on Tuesday, though. It's not going to be easy." As it turned out, it became quite impossible, because of the playoff for mat kafuffle. JUNIOR Oakville's White Oaks lost the jun ior Halton final 57-41 to Nelson, who were represented in all three Halton finals. Nelson held period leads of 15-8, 27-14 and 39-26. MIDGET Oakville Trafalgar ensured right from the start that there wouldn't be a a complete Nelson sweep with a 50-35 win over Nelson. Halton volleyball championship (Continued from page D1) 0. "We played a little too safe, I think," said coach Szpakowski. "When we get up and pound the ball it makes their defence work hard er. They (Georgetown) are too good for us to do that." In the second game, the lady Raiders managed a brief lead of 12-11 at the half way mark but then fell behind 15-12, eventually falling behind as much as five points at 21-16. Aquinas pulled to within two points at 22-20, but then Georgetown put a stranglehold on the game with a 24-20 lead. Aquinas then rang off three straight points, to cut the deficit to 24-23 but Georgetown then managed to stem the tide by finally notching the winning point. (Second round/Stoney Creek) Oakville swept Stoney Creek three straight. Ina penalty-filled contest on Jan. 30, Oakville won 3-1. Conlan Gassi was solid in net and Corey Halyk led the scoring with 2 goals while defenceman Mario Mancuso pocketed one. Assists were tallied by Craig Shimoda, Mark Harris, Mark Dvemechuk, Tyler Wood and Daniel Ringwald. On Feb. 2, goalie Mike Mierzwa thwarted all but one of Stoney Creek's scoring chances in a 5-1 win. Ryan Mant, Corey Halyk, Stephen Ferguson, Tyler Wood and Mark Harris each con tributed a goal on assists by Craig Shimoda (-3), Kyle M acDonald (2), Mark M clsaac, Kevin Sinclair and Corey Halyk. the crucial G-HAC championship in Oakville on Friday, with the wjnner advancing to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) provincial championship. The Raiders haven't run into them in tournament play this year. Coach Szpakowski said they're strong but were pushed to three games by Notre Dame of Burlington in the recent allCatholic Ontario championship. "And we beat Notre Dame to get here ..." Oakville lost in straight sets to Georgetown 25-19 and 25-23. But coach Peter Szpakowski was right -- the Raiders were right there in both games. In fact, they led the first game 12-8 and 13-10 before giving up two deadly runs in quick succession of 9-1 and 6- T « ...the Oakville Beaver has proven to be an invaluable partner." Dear Oakville Beaver As a new business to Oakville, we were thrilled with the warm welcome we received from the community and the kindness of our customers. We were also impressed with our experience in dealing with Oakville's community newspaper. The Oakville Beaver has proven to be an invaluable business part ner. Our advertising campaign has resulted in direct sales for our business. After running only one ad for our seafood seminar, we were overwhelmed by the response, and our New Year's eve ad prompted a record sales day! Special thanks to our sales rep, Colleen, and the creative team at the Beaver for making our business opening a great success! O ijs tg r, THE MERMAID AND THE OYSTER Business Partners