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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Denison squad sitting on 8 straight YRAA wins Homeless Huskies handling life on road BYJOHNCUDMORE jcudmore9yrmgcom The Dr JM Denison Huskies are like a lost dog searching for its home As that search winds down theres nothing wrong with the Hus kies performance on the hardcourt in York Region Athletic Association senior boys Tier 1 basketball play this season The Huskies have compiled eight straight wins in the complex regular season format and are in contention for the top seed for the YRAA playoffs pending a Feb 2 showdown against twotime defending York Region champion and likewise unbeaten Vaughan Voyageurs to complete the divi sional zone portion of the season The Huskies who took an 183 overall record entering this week ends Silver Fox tournament in Hamilton have played their entire schedule on enemy courts since water damage from flooding in the autumn rendered their home gym nasium unplayable For the team it hasnt been that bad said Huskies head coach Brent Evans noting his squad expects its home court to be ready when the playoffs tip off next month When you are on the road the challenges make you stronger sometimes The players have to learn to rely on each other Still the chance to play before a home crowd is important for a few reasons We would have loved to play at least one home game before the playoffs Evans sakL Sometimes theres the added pressure at home maybe trying to impress someone Maybe that will rattle us or maybe it will be a boost Something like this affects the school community We havent had the following It effects the morale of the school everything I think weve had fewer practic es this season so its a bit harder to get our players on the same page That the Huskies are going to finish either the first or second among the 24 teams in Tier 1 and one of the two top seeds and an opening round bye is a feat Evans traces back to last season when the decision was made to elevate a pre dominantly Grade 10 team to the senior ranks one year early St Andrews Colleges Mark Belvedere curls around Mount Carmel goalie Steve during the 27th MacPherson Tournament high school boys hockey tournament at the Aurora Community Centre Friday St Andrews won 110 The tournament wraps up at the community centre with the bronze medal game today at 1 am followed by the gold medal game at 1 pm It was a major move for us and a major learning curve for York Region said Evans whose team will enjoy homecourt advantage through the playoffs But now we have to find new challenges and weve done that by going to more highend tourna ments Weve used those tourna ments to keep pushing the players and its been a real eyeopener Its been a great season and they know what is needed to get better The Huskies are led by guard Kevin Pangos who helped Cana das national Cadet team to a third- place finish at the FIBA Americas under- 16 tournament last year and to a berth in the inaugural under- 1 7 worlds in Germany this year Pan gos also accompanied the national mens team to Europe last summer Final exams for the first semes ter have pushed high school sports to the sidelines for two weeks Thus the Huskies and Voyageurs are forced to eye each other from afar before settling the top seed issue for the Tier 1 playdowns next month Ideally wed like to play Vaughan this week but thats the way the schedule is Evans said But its kind of nice to have that as the final game of the regular season The Huskies ripped St Theresa Lions 8265 last Monday for their second win in as many starts in YRAAs divisional realignment which pits the top four perform ing teams from the initial seg ment of the schedule against each other Meanwhile Sacred Heart Cru saders completed their threegame divisional schedule with a 7357 win over Thomhill Tigers as Peter Galka netted a teamhigh 16 points The win was the second in three starts for the Crusaders at Level 3 where Brother Andre Cardinals and Thomhill Tigers also posted 21 records Golden Eagles roll on The Aurora Golden Eagles clinched first place in the var sity girls hockey league standings Thursday by blanking the Sacred Heart Crusaders 50 in Newmarket The Golden Eagles continued on their way to an undefeated regu lar season with the win highlighted by shutout netminding by Alex Copery and a hat trick from Victoria Andreakos Aurora opened the week with a 102 rout of the Stouffville Spartans behind hat tricks by Schil ler and Laura Doherty along with two goals by Victoria Andreakos Streak Iced So much for the undefeated sea son for the Cardinal Carter Celtics senior boys hockey team After reeling off five straight wins the Celtics fell from the ranks of the unbeaten in a hurry suffering a 97 loss at the hands of the previ ously winless Keswick Cougars in a Tier game Monday at Bond Lake Arena The Celts rebounded to clinch top spot in the North with a tie the following day against the homeice Aurora Golden Eagles and completed their regular season schedule by skating to 33 draw with the Sacred Heart Crusaders in Newmarket Nevertheless the Cardinal Cart er will receive an opening round playoff bye SAVE UP TO 7900 PER PACKAGE OR Purchase a and receive a private shooting 50 value to if up 1 200 Drive Unit 3 Newmarket 2km west of Magna wwwhighspeedhockeyca 9058368176