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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday December 12, 2007 - 41 Blakelock juniors quicker, smarter, 4-0 in boys' hoops High-scoring Tigers not surprised by early success By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF After sitting in the middle of the pack for much of last season, the T.A. Blakelock Tigers are enjoying their new perch atop the Halton high school standings. The Tigers' junior boys' basketball team improved to 4-0 Monday by knocking off the previously-unbeaten Loyola Hawks 51-40. Overall, Blakelock is 10-1 after defeating Iroquois Ridge in the final of a tournament at Oakville Trafalgar on the weekend. Monday, Blakelock used outstanding defence to set up its fast break and open the game with an 11-point run. Though Loyola adjusted and played better "We expected to be in the second half, it would never narrow its deficit to less than this good. We're a eight points the rest of the way. lot quicker than we While matching last year's win were and we play a total by the halfway point of this lot smarter than we season may seem like a huge did last year." turnaround, it isn't all that surprising to Daniel Thompson, who T.A. Blakelock player led the Tigers with 19 points. Daniel Thompson "We expected to be this good," the Grade 10 student said. "We had a good core back this year. We're a lot quicker than we were and we play a lot smarter than we did last year." That core includes returning starters Thompson, Evan Anderson, Peter Copeland and Blake Fletcher. Mark Lozar is the lone Grade 9 starter. The Tigers have certainly shown the ability to put up points. They came into Monday's game averaging 66 points. Only one other junior team -- the other remaining undefeated team, Notre Dame, which scored a season-best 67 -- has topped that mark in a single game. Nobody has even approached the 79 points Blakelock scored against Oakville Trafalgar. "I think if we had the choice, we'd play up tempo," said Tigers coach Scott Stevens. "But we've also won a couple when the other team has slowed it down." Anderson and Fletcher, a reliable shooter who went 5-for6 from the line in the second half, were also in double figures with 10 apiece. Copeland added nine. The 51 points was well below Blakelock's average, perhaps because it was playing one of the league's best defensive teams. Loyola had yet to allow more than 27 points in its three wins to begin the year. "It's tough playing (Blakelock). They're big and they're experienced," said Loyola coach Chris Pauletto. "We haven't played against many zone defences and it put us out of our rhythm." Blakelock pressured Loyola into bad passes and turnovers to build a seemingly insurmountable 29-12 lead at the half. However, Loyola would rebound with a 17-5 run, thanks to much better rebounding and a strong performance by Rohan Boney, one of eight Grade 9s on the Loyola roster. Boney showed the ability to score points in a variety of ways -- a nice putback to end the third quarter, coming up with a block to start a play that he would eventually finish, and driving to the basket, drawing fouls and capitalizing with 5for-6 shooting from the line. Boney finished with 17 points, 13 of them coming during that second-half run that narrowed the margin to eight with five minutes remaining. Stephen Koffi chipped in with eight, six of them in the second half in which Loyola outscored Blakelock 26-18. "We had some guys wake up and we started rolling," Pauletto said. "I was really pleased that we came back. If you told me we were going to get within 10 after the half, I would have been happy with that." MULTIPLE WEAPONS: Each skater got at least two points as the Oakville Strataflex Vikings peewee red team won gold at a recent house league hockey tournament (see story below). Late goal costs Ice victory vs. Ottawa The Oakville junior Ice came within six minutes of securing a victory in Provincial Women's Hockey League action Saturday, settling for a 1-1 tie with Ottawa at Canlan Ice Sports. SPORTSBRIEFS Paige Goloubef had scored in the third period to give Oakville a 1-0 lead, but Ottawa notched the equalizer with 5:33 to go in regulation. Hayleigh Cudmore had an assist and Ali Binnington earned the tie in net for Oakville, which outshot its opponent 36-24 but went 1-for-11 on the powerplay. The Ice lost its previous two games, 7-2 at Stoney Creek Wednesday and 5-2 against Etobicoke Friday. Paula LaGamba and Sarah Finbow scored first-period goals for Oakville against Stoney Creek, as the Ice enjoyed an early 2-1 lead before surrendering six unanswered markers. Taylor Metcalfe, Dayna Newsom, Chelsea Young and Elaine Dumas drew assists. Scoring details from Friday's game were unavailable. The Ice (6-9-2, ninth in the 17-team league) will visit Markham-Stouffville on Sunday. Oakville's next home game is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 21, a 7:15 p.m. start against Aurora at Ice Sports. Goaltender Sean Murray, player of the week in league play, backstopped the team to the three wins. Defenceman Jesse Taylor was named the tournament MVP for the second year in a row, collecting three assists in the three games. Jeffrey Nye, Eric Burzycki, Connor Prescott, Patrick McGinnis and Jarett MacDougall each had two goals for the Vikings. Graham Prentice, Ryan McNamara, Ryan Vournakis, Dane Mastantuono, Mason Kuipers, Tommy Fox and Mitch Cowburn also had markers. Top set-up men were Mastantuono and Fox (five assists each), Nye (four helpers) and Brendan Heyburgh (one of several with two assists). "I've never had a group of players who play so unselfishly," said pleased coach Marshall Snowball. "They are to be commended for their excellent passing play." Assistant coaches of the team are Keith Murray and Bob Taylor. Shawn McNamara is the trainer. Dylan Cooper, Alderson and Corbeth each had two assists, while Brett Lee, Matthew Provost, Ryan DiBattista, Eliott Cheeseman, Tyler Badham, Peter Copeland and Wilson also notched helpers. Marcus Nepinak earned the victory in goal, his shutout bid foiled by a Guelph marker late in regulation. In its final three games of November, the Rangers defeated Hamilton 5-1 and St. Catharines 52, adding a 3-3 tie against Grey Bruce. Alderson led the way against Hamilton, recording a hat trick, and Corbeth had four assists. Wilson and Armstrong had the other Oakville goals. Phil Hampton, Cooper, Lee, DiBattista and Copeland each found the net against St. Catharines, and Brian Betts picked up the win. DiBattista, Corbeth and Wilson scored versus Grey Bruce. Petrick plays in Prince Cup Oakville youngster Charlotte Petrick advanced further than any other Canadian girl in the under-12 main draw of the recent Prince Cup, one of the three main Florida International tennis tournaments. The 10-year-old performed well in the qualifying draw to reach the main draw, where she won her first match against a Chilean opponent before falling to a Brazilian in the second round. Petrick's second-round opponent had already defeated seeded Canadian national champion Tracy Dong in the opening round. Petrick hopes to compete in the Orange Bowl as an on-site alternate or as a wild card, based on her showing at the Prince Cup. Minor midgets whip Guelph After closing out the month of November with a flourish, the Oakville minor midget AAA Rangers split their first two games of December. Oakville, 6-1-1 in league play last month to secure its hold on second place in the South Central Triple A standings, fell 3-0 to Halton before rebounding to thrash Guelph 7-1. Jamie Armstrong and Scott Wilson scored twice each against Guelph, with singles going to Braeden Corbeth, Brandon Alderson and Tyler Shiplo -- the latter tally coming in spectacular fashion. Vikings win gold in Shelburne Receiving at least two points from each of their skaters, the Oakville Strataflex Vikings peewee red house league hockey team won gold at a recent tournament in Shelburne. Oakville defeated Oakridges 5-2, Shelburne 9-1 and Oakville minor peewee red Lumberjacks 4-1 to claim the championship.