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THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, March 8, 2000 -----------------------In your face. The Bruins Ricardo Edwards (#44) guards H um ber's A drian C larke in the provincial cham pionship gam e Saturday night. Sign up for softball T he K in sm en M in o r S o ftb all L eagu e is hold in g a late reg istratio n for the u p co m in g spring season this W ednesday (M arch 8), 7 :30 p.m . to 9 :3 0 p.m . at the O akville C ru sad ers R ugby C lub, lo cated on N inth L ine, betw een U pper M iddle Rd. and Hwy. 5. L ate reg istra tio n fee is $55. B irth ce rtifica te required. S eason runs until the en d o f June. A lso, paid um pires are need ed as w ell as v o lu n teer co ach es and sponsors. March Break ideas Y M C A O F O A K V IL L E T he O akville Y M C A , 4 1 0 R ebecca Street, has a variety o f sports program s to offer during M arch Break. T hey are: C o-ed B asketball C am p, ages 9 to 16, a SkillsT eam P la y -S c rim m a g e s-T o u rn a m e n t at T. A. B lakelock H igh School, M onday to Friday, 8:30 a.m . to 4 p.m . C ost: $130. W orld W ide Sports C am p, ages 6 to 10, cost $130, S p o rts/C ra fts/G a m e s, in d o o r/o u td o o r p lay at St. B ern a d ette S ch o o l, p lu s trip to R o y al O n tario M useum on T hursday. M onday to Friday, 8:30 a.m . to 4 :30 p.m . C ost: $130. S upervised aftercare available until 6 p.m ., at a co st o f an ad ditional $25 fo r the w eek. F o r info, phone 845-3417 or catch them on the w eb at www.ymcaofoakville.com G L E N E D E N SK I S C H O O L R em em ber back to last y e a r's M arch B reak w hen kids w ere w hining `I'm b o red ?' D o n 't let it happen again this year! Take your kids to G len E d en Ski and S now board C entre for lots o f ski and snow board action. M arch is one o f the best m onths to enjoy the slopes at G len Eden. W arm days m ake for an easy afternoon o f riding and sliding. A nd d o n 't fret ab o u t p o o r snow conditions! W ith 100% snow m aking, G len E den ensures th at all the 12 runs and tw o h alf pipes w ill be groom ed to perfection. T he entire fam ily can p ick up a few new skills d u r ing the M arch B reak by enrolling in one o f the fiveday lesson program s for only $135 p er person. K ids aged five to 17 learn to ski or b oard in one o f tw o daily sessions, 10 a.m . o r 1 p.m . start. P arents can refresh their ski skills at 10 a.m. A ll M arch B reak lessons are tw o hours in length and include instruction and lift ticket. R entals and G ST are extra. B o o k y o u r lessons now as these p o p u lar program s fill up fast! M arch B reak at G len E den m eans D em o M adness! A ll y o u r favourite m anufacturers o f ski and sn o w board eq uipm ent w ill be on-hand! L ooking to purchase new eq u ip m en t fo r the next season? T his is an ex cellen t tim e to try o ut the latest ski and board technology. F or m ore inform ation on lessons, phone 878-8455 or visit the w ebsite at www.gleneden.on.ca Photo by Ian Ross Bruins season comes to a surprising and sudden end T he S h eridan B ruins sizzling season has com e to a surprising, untim ely end, shut out o f the n atio n al m e n 's co lleg e basketball cham pionships. It's not so m uch surprising that they w ere b eat in the p rovincial cham pionship gam e on S aturday night as it w as that they w ere denied a w ild card berth into the national ch am pionships, w hich are being hosted by E d m o n to n 's G rant M acE w an, M arch 16-18. F resh o ff their stinging 79-72 loss to H u m b er in Saturday nig h t's provincial cham pionship gam e -- w hich end ed an im pressive 13 gam e w inning streak, including their last 11 reg u la r league w ins as w ell as their p ro v in cial p lay o ff quarterfinal and sem ifinal w ins -- Sheridan found the back door route to the national cham pionship slam m ed shut in th eir face on M onday. M aking it tougher to sw allow is that the p rev io u s tw o years, in w hich S heridan won the p rovincial cham pionship, H um ber w as aw arded a w ild card spot. T h ree years ago, w hen D urham w on the p rovincial title, it w as Sheridan that gladly accepted a w ild card invitation. T h is year, no such luck. . T he B ruins m ay not exactly like the deci sion but no o n e's crying foul. In national tournam ents that em ploy the w ild card option to ro u n d out the field (such as the national m en 's university basketball cham pionships) team s know that it's alw ays a bit o f a crapshoot, if you d o n 't directly earn your ticket there. A nd this tim e Sheridan d id n 't get an invite to the party. B asically, as Sheridan sports inform ation d irecto r S teve W alker noted, there w as really only one w ay S heridan could be denied the w ild card spot from eastern C anada (th ere's also a w ild card spot from w estern C anada to round out the eight-team field). A nd that w as if the predom inant Q uebec favourite, M ontm orency, w ho are ranked seco n d , n atio n ally , b eh in d to p ran k e d L angara F alcons from B .C ., w ere som ehow upset in th eir ow n provincial cham pionship. W ell, M ontm orency w as upset by tw o p oints by n inth-ranked D aw son. Ju st to round out the national rankings heading into last w eek en d 's O ntario cham pi onships, third place belonged to another B.C. team , F raser Valley C ascades w hile the next th ree sp o ts w ere all fro m O n tario -- Sheridan (4th), H um ber (5th) and A lgonquin (6th). So D aw son earned the Q uebec berth to the national cham pionships and M ontm orency w as given the w ild card berth at the expense o f Sheridan. N o doubt factoring in all this, w ere exhi bition tournam ent w ins by M ontm orency over both Sheridan and A lgonquin w ay back in N ovem ber. Funny, how those seem ingly innocuous gam es can com e back to haunt. T he Bruins, o f course, had a so-so start to the season, w ith only tw o w ins and tw o loss es in their first four gam es (including a loss to cellar dw elling D urham ) before getting hot and going on their above m entioned roll. T he B ruin s' loss to H um ber had to rank as a m uch lesser surprise. T here w asn 't m uch betw een the team s in the re g u la r seaso n w ith S h erid an and H um ber in their ow n tier atop the central division at 13-2 and 12-3 respectively. A nd there w asn 't m uch betw een the team s in their regular season m atch-ups, again with S heridan slightly ahead w ith tw o w ins and a loss. A nd, as previously noted, there certainly w asn 't m uch betw een them in the national rankings, at fourth and fifth, respectively. It certainly d id n 't help the B ruins' cause that, despite their central division title and despite their top billing am ongst O ntario team s, they ended up playing the provincial c h a m p io n sh ip on th eir o p p o n en t's hom e court. B ut again, th a t's ju st the luck o f the draw. T he provincial cham pionships w ere aw arded long in advance. Sheridan took them selves out o f the gam e early on, m anaging only tw o points in the first eight m inutes to trail by 19 points. E specially, on H u m b er's hom e court, that proved to be too deep a hole to claw them selves out of, although they gam ely tried. A late first-h alf 10-2 run reduced the d eficit to only 13 points at the break (at 3623). Sheridan continued to fight back in the seco n d half, m ak in g sev eral co m eb ack attem pts, closing to w ithin five points at one point. B ut their rallies w ere continuously thw art ed by tim ely H um ber baskets. H um ber was on fire from the outside throughout the gam e, knocking dow n 10 three-pointers to S heridan's four. "T hey shot the ball extrem ely w ell," said Bruins head m an Jim Flack. "E very one o f their three pointers w as a back breaker for us." H um ber head coach M ike Katz w as obvi ously thrilled. "It w as a really good gam e. Jason Francis was the difference." Francis, the tournam ent MVP, hit four treys and finished w ith 24 points, 16 in the second half. F or the Bruins, all-C anadian guard Shane B ascoe, playing in his final college gam e, m atched Francis w ith 24 points along with six rebounds and five steals and w as nam ed a tournam ent all-star. O f m ore consolation to Bascoe, he is d es tin ed to go d o w n , n ot ju s t as one o f Sheridan's best all-tim e players, but as one o f the all-tim e provincial college greats. Prior to the final, Bascoe was nam ed to the provincial O ntario college lo o p 's all-M illennium team w hich also included another Bruin, G eorge F rem pong w ho suited up in the m id 90s. Rare for an O ntario college player, last year B ascoe w as even sum m oned by nation al team coach Jay T riano to a national team tryout. H ugh Bent chipped in w ith 16 points and was also nam ed an all-star. C hris B ennett added 14 points for Sheridan. SE M IFIN A L G A M E In sem ifinal action, the Bruins on Friday took out A lgonquin 83-72. Bent hit three sec ond h a lf treys to lead Sheridan w ith 21 points. B ascoe scored 20 points and D am ian Paratore played a good gam e and finished w ith 11 points. Q U A R T E R F IN A L G A M E In T h u rsd ay 's quarterfinal gam e, Sheridan dum ped St. L aw rence (K in g sto n ) 68-56. B ascoe led the w ay w ith 15 points. Chris C oote scored 11 and R icardo E dw ards added 10 points. Reach us via e-mail Rep and house league reports and press releases can now be sent to the O akville B eaver S ports D epartm ent via e-m ail. It's ... nnelson@ haltonsearch.com. Ridge hold o ff Rams (Continued from page C1) Athletes in training for Olympic trials (Continued from page C1) w ith Southern M ethodist and she^vas unable to com e back fo r the nationals but w ill be there for the O lym pic trials. B ryson Tan is w ith Eastern M ichigan and w as planning to com pete fo r the O akville A quatic C lub at this w eek 's nationals but w asn't slated to arrive in O akville until late yesterday (Tuesday). Sandy H enderson, from Sim on F raser U niversity in B ritish C olum bia did m ake it back for the M onday practice in his old stom ping grounds, and he told the B eaver he w as happy w ith his second year o f universi ty com petition. H is team w on their N A IA division w hile he, personally, sw am best tim es at m ost events. H is bread and butter events, he said, are the 100m fly and the 100m back. "F or this w eekend. I'd like to go best tim es, for sure, and try and qualify for top eight in finals, and then at O lym pic trials, obviously try and go top three." W ith the big com petition approaching, he said it's not tim e to try and change the gam e plan. "I d o n 't really change practices that m uch. I ju st sw im harder." H is university practices, he said, include "seven sw im s a w eek and three w eight w orkouts." C oach H ew itt-H enderson said the benefit these returning sw im m ers bring back to the club is invaluable. "W e're very fortunate to have these ath letes w anting to com e hom e and sw im for O akville," she said. N ot only are they fine am bassadors for O akville, but she said they m entor the other O akville athletes. A nd th a t's som ething that C hristina K ubacki, the O akville A quatic C lu b 's sixth representative to the O lym pic trials, touched upon, in a separate interview . Photo by Barrie Erskine O akville Trafalgar O AC student Christina Kubacki is headed for C olum bia University. She realized one o f her "m ajor goals" by recently accepting a scholarship to C olum bia U niversity. Prior to m aking her decision, how ever, she said she had a chance to talk w ith several o f the returning sw im m ers dur ing the T hanksgiving break. "A t that point I h adn't m ade my decision yet. I w as ju st going to visit schools so I got to talk to them , w hich was helpful." For ju st a little w hile longer, however, her N C A A aspirations will have to take a back seat. K ubacki is in her first year w ith the O akville Aquatic Club after m aking the sw itch from the M ississauga Sw im Club. T he switch, she said, w asn't m uch o f a deal. "I had n 't been doing well. O akville and M ississauga are pretty closely linked because they're both part o f the Toronto All Stars at nationals, so I'd sw am a lot with them before and thought*I'd give it a try." T he program that she cam e from, she said, "the entire four years is focused tow ards the O lym pic trials.' So as the big com petition approaches, she's not changing her gam e plan, ju st fo l low ing it w'ith even m ore vigour. "I guess this year, yeah, I changed my school schedule ju st so I could focus more. I arranged it so I could get my courses done early and I only have one course this sem es ter so that I could focus on the trials, and things like that." This w eek's nationals, she reiterated, are "obviously a stepping stone more for the (O lym pic) trials. T h at's our m ajor goal for the year. "I'm hoping definitely, to m ake the sem i finals in both my m ain events -- the 50 fly and 100 fly. "And if I could get into the final, any thing can happen." Speaking o f m entoring, Kubacki. m ade her first senior nationals when she was only 14 and, no doubt, has som e good advice for her 14-year-old team m ate, Kate Ply ley. points at the break. In the third quarter, how ever, not only w ere they not having m uch success at chipping aw ay at the rest o f the deficit,- but they also lost their talented p o in t guard, Justin Close. "O ur starting guard, Justin C lose, w ent dow n w ith a knee injury and m y im m ediate reaction w as, `oh, m y g o o d ness, w e're in trouble here," conceded coach M ike Luyks. Fortunately, though, the understudy had learned his lines. "Lee B ekker w ent in and played guard and he did a fan tastic jo b . Lee B ekker w as the first guy to say, as soon as Justin w ent dow n, `com e on, w e've got to w in this one for Ju stin '. "A nd the guys w ent out and d id a heck o f a jo b and pulled through." W ith their new found purpose, Iroquois R idge w ere able to com pletely turn the tables, even though the tables alm ost spun back to M .M . Robinson by g am e's end. "We had them by 12 (points) w ith tw o m inutes left and they (M .M . R obinson) did a heck o f a jo b shooting threes in the last m inute to pull it close," said coach Luyks. H arjeav B rar led the scoring w ith 22 points and that was by no m eans his only contribution. T he dom inating 6 '5" grade nine student, w ho led his R iver O aks public school to the H alton elem entary title the previous year, "m ust have had 15 blocked shots," said coach L uyks. "U nbelievable. T h at w as huge." It capped o ff a perfect season in league play for the R idge w ho w ent 9-0 in their Volpe d ivision and then 3-0 in the playoffs. T he H alton cham pionship brought their over all record to 18-2, one loss being to Syl A pps "w hich is not really a m idget team , th ey 're kind o f a ju n io r team ," said coach Luyks. T heir other loss, w ith out a full line-up, w as to L ord Elgin. T he R idge did com e to know the m eaning o f defeat, how ever, as they w ere handily beaten in all three gam es at the just-w rap p ed up GTA E lite Six. C oach Luyks conceded that the T oronto guys seem ed "a lot bigger, a lot tougher and quicker, too." A dded to that, Iroquois R idge could n ot ev en enjoy the com fort o f zone defence, w hich w as banned fo r the series. But that certainly d id n 't p u t a dam per on a year w hich saw them win O akville's only H alton boys high school b as ketball title. "I rem em ber w alking into the gym ju s t after football had ended thinking, you know, w hat have w e got here. "R ight from the start these guys played fantastic b ask et ball." W hile they w orked hard On defensive zone system s, offensively he let them go, m aking use o f th eir athleticism and court sense. "Justin C lose, especially. H e ju s t does a fantastic jo b distributing the ball -- som e super passes all season. A nd the rest o f the guys, Lee B ekker R ichie T hom as, th ey 're ju st runners, they ju st go to the hoop and score." H ere's the entire H alton cham pionship roster ... J u s tin C lo s e , M a rk V o g t, J e s s e D z ie d ic , B re n tto n B a rk m a n , R ic h ie T h o m a s , G r a h a m C o rrig a n , S te v e B o ly c h u k , M a tt C u rtis , L e e B e k k e r, N a v D h illo n , D e e p D h a liw a l, J u lia n M e h ra , H a rje a v B rar, R y a n M o o n , T y le r M o e a n d S a g a l U b h i. C o a c h e s M ik e L u y k s and A dam B anks.