By Mat LaBranche
Local teams won medals in both the OFSAA provincial high school sports championships hosted in town from March 9-12, with the Merivale Marauders earning bronze in the ‘AA’ boys’ basketball event and the Louis-Riel Rebelles taking antique-bronze for 4th place in ‘AAA/AAAA’ girls’ hockey.
The Marauders ended their OFSAA run with a bang as Ali Sow hit a 3-point buzzer-beating prayer from half court to complete his 28-point effort in Merivale’s 72-69 bronze medal match victory.
The triumph provided a happy finish for Merivale after a difficult semi-final loss that knocked them out of championship contention earlier the same day, but coach Sean McCann believes his team came away with lessons learned regardless of result.
“It sounds stupid, but it’s not the winning or losing,” indicates McCann, who spoke to his team for an extended period of time after their lone defeat in five matches. “If you lose and you do the things right you’ve been working on, that feels a lot better afterwards. They might not realize it yet, but this is one more life experience they’ll have.”
Louis-Riel ‘best friends’
Louis-Riel’s seniors just couldn’t get enough of playing hockey with one another. Seeded only 12th out of 20 teams, they played the maximum number of games possible – seven in four days – to close their careers with their fourth OFSAA hockey medal in as many years, including gold last year at the ‘A/AA’ Championships for schools with smaller populations.
The team was powered by Princeton-bound defender Kimiko Marinacci and Dartmouth-bound forward Alyssa Baker, but also included a number of top provincial and national-level soccer players, who wanted to play Rebelles hockey despite heavy commitments to their main sport.
“I’ve had a great four years playing with these girls,” highlights Gloucester Hornets striker Kelsey Ellis. “I loved every single minute of it, and it’s provided me with a ton of memories.
“There’s seven of us in Grade 12, and we’re all extremely close. Most of us met when we were in Grade 9 and instantly became best friends.”
Sacred Heart curling bronze
Led by Ontario Bantam club champions Michael and Matthew Morra, the Sacred Heart Huskies boys’ curling team that also featured Andrew Morra and Sebastian Coort claimed the bronze medal at the March 9-12 OFSAA boys’ curling championships in Brighton.