SPORTS
SFX Falcons rip up l’Escale Cougars
on basketball court
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
being a key point for their winning game strategy against the Cougars. “It’s been a problem for us before, our foul- shooting,” Stoqua said. “But we’ve improved over the season. One of our main guys, Matt Byrnes, went six-for- six for us and the foul-shooting was a big difference.” Stoqua observed there was no single moment during any of the game quarters when he could even say to himself that here was the turning point for the Falcons, when he knew that SFX had the game. “We knew they (Cougars) weren’t going to just give up and give us the win,” he said. “Until the (final) buzzer went, I wasn’t com- fortable at all.” Even when the Falcons were up by 10 points on the scoreboard during the fourth quarter, Stoqua said the game could have still gone the other way in L’Escale’s favour. “They (Cougars) just kept going and going,” he said. For the Falcons, the high-point shoo- ting honours for the finals match go to SFX forward Sam Lessard, who sunk 14 points during the game. Close behind him was fellow forward Austin Moore with a dozen points, including several “key foul shots”, noted Stoqua.
In a hard-fought match, the St. Francis Xavier Falcons dropped the Cougars of L’Escale to claim the Prescott-Russell Se- condary School Athletics Association title for senior boys’ basketball. The Falcons from Hammond tore into the Cougars from Rockland 42-37 in the Feb. 19 finals at L’Escale. It’s the fourth consecutive PR title in senior boys’ bas- ketball for the Hammond team and earns them yet another shot at bringing home an Eastern Ontario Secondary School Athletics Association (EOSSAA) banner this week from the tournament in Renfrew. “It was a good game,” said Coach Scott Stoqua during a post-game interview. “The guys worked hard. They made their foul shots when they had to and that made a big difference.” During a later interview two days af- ter the finals, Coach Stoqua reported the Falcons bench still flying high on their vic- tory. “They’re still pretty happy,” he said, chuckling. “We just had a meeting about the EOSSAA, and they’re pretty excited about that too. They’re all gung-ho for it.” Coach Stoqua repeated his earlier com- ment about the Falcons’ foul-shooting skills
Wildcats ground Falcons in junior b-ball
RocklandDistrict High School Wildcats took the lead early and never gave it up during the battle with their home-court battle with St. Francis Xavier Falcons for the junior boys’ basketball title in the Prescott-Russell high school league finals.
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
Coach Ken O’Brien. “We played hard right to the end.” Falcons guard Eddie Vigue was the high- point shooter for SFX with 23 points to his credit. Top shooters for the Wildcats were point-guard Spencer Murray and power- forward Tyson Denofrio. CoachMcDonald had no trouble pointing to the key factor behind theWildcats’ victory in the championshipmatch.“When I realized they couldn’t handle our pressure defence,” he said. “They didn’t have an answer to it.” TheWildcats now have a shot at an EOS- SAA title this week and they won’t have to travel far to play. SFX hosts this year’s EOSSAA on Feb. 25 which means a short drive from Rockland to Hammond for the Wildcats. “There’s going to be some of the toughest competition we’ve ever had to face as of yet,’ said CoachMcDonald. “We’ll have to stick to our game plan and pay attention to detail.”
The Wildcats clawed their way to an early lead and never gave it up, winning the junior boys’ basketball championships in the Prescott-Russell Secondary Schools Athletics Associations final. “We knew it was going to be a tough game,” said Wildcats Coach Ryan McDo- nald, “but we came in prepared, and the boys played hard.” The Rockland District High School Wild- cats clawed the St. Francis Xavier Catholic High School Falcons of Hammond 67-45 during the Feb. 19 league championship finals at RDHS.TheWildcats took the lead in the first quarter with 23-12 and hung onto it during every quarter following, scoring 43-19 by the end of the second quarter, and 56-33 after the third-quarter buzzer. “We had some turnovers,” said Falcons
After the game, good sportsmanship is the rule as players and coaches fromboth sides exchange final handshakes before leaving the basketball court.
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker