St. Marys DCVI - Weblog 07-08

WOSSAA Basketball

Yesterday, the Junior Boys Basketball team travelled to Clinton to compete in the WOSSAA championship tournament.  In the first game, the Woodstock Red Devils grabbed a 27 - 14 lead at the end of the first quarter.  The Salukis adjusted their defence and closed the gap before half-time, trailing 36 to 29.  Both teams traded baskets early in the second half, before Woodstock took control of the game extending their lead to over ten points late in the fourth quarter.  The final score was 61 - 46. Aaron Leyser and Seth Coddington led the Saluki scoring with 14 and 9 points respectively.

After consuming a healthy lunch and checking out Mr. Shaddick's mullett photo, the junior Salukis battled for bronze against West Elgin.  The fast-breaking Salukis dictated the pace of the game and took a 28-27 lead into half-time.  Still flying in the third quarter, the boys opened up a ten point lead.  With both teams struggling to find a second wind, the Salukis made some rushed decisions and committed untimely turnovers against West Elgin's press.  West Elgin capitalized on the mistakes and won 62 to 57.  Brent Rae scored 14 and Winston Smeenk  netted 13 for the Salukis.

Mr. Shaddick would like to congratulate all of the players for their commitment and effort this season ... and remind them to return their freshly laundered uniforms before the end of the week.

Wrestling Results

What a difference a year makes!  On Friday, Seth Coddington and Joe Smith competed in the Thames Valley East Wrestling Championships and all but ruled the mats.

While both competed last year in the same championship, and met with limited success, this year Seth captured second in the hard fought 77 kg. division and Joe took the gold in the very competitive 61 kg. division.

There were 19 competitors in Joe’s division and he first came up against another wrestler from Huron-Perth, T. Jantzi from Northwestern.  While the first few moments of the bout were spent gauging each other’s strengths and weaknesses, Joe was the first to go on the attack and took total control and quickly pinned his opponent in the first round.

In his second match, Joe took on O. Jones from Clarke Road.  The match was a tougher one and Joe lost the opening round to a good wrestler who was a strong opponent.  Joe was not put off at all and came out on the attack in the second round, gaining control from the opening whistle and once more pinned his challenger.

A wrestler from Banting was Joe’s next opponent.  Joe took to the mat with confidence and determination and it was all over within 90 seconds.  Joe pinned his third wrestler in a row and was now off to the gold medal match.

In the Gold Medal match, Joe, who was unseeded going into the tournament, had to face the number one seed from AB Lucas Vikings.  In a hard fought first round, both strived for control and dominance, but neither wrestler truly took the lead in scoring and the first round ended in a draw.  Joe slowly gained the edge in the second round and then with just 41 seconds remaining, he out muscled and out maneuvered his opponent and once more pinned his adversary for the win and the championship.

In the 77 kg. category, there were 17 wrestlers in all and Seth first came up against a competitor from Mother Theresa.  Even though Seth is only in grade 10, he has several years of club experience under his belt, and this proved to be too much for his opponent, as Seth pinned him in the first round after dominating the bout.

Seth had a more challenging second match and came up against a physically strong wrestler who had a closed style that didn’t allow Seth much of an opportunity to attack yet played up his own physical strength.  With Seth down a round, he took to the offensive in the second round and when his opponent made a mistake, Seth capitalized on it and pinned the wrestler for his second win.

Although Seth once again faced a physically strong wrestler, this time, McFarland from CCH, he took control of the bout from the start and pinned his third opponent, once more in the first round, to advance to the championship finals.

In the finals, Seth had to face a wrestler who had finished in second place at the provincials in club action just the last weekend.  The wrestler from Lucas was both skilled and strong.  Early in the opening round, Seth was caught off guard and was put in a danger position, but fought well to avoid being pinned.  Within 20 seconds, Seth has turned the tables and had the Lucas wrestler on his back, striving to avoid the pin.  As can happen in wrestling, their positions changed once more before the end of the round, and with just 10 seconds remaining, Seth was pinned. 

With Seth’s second place finish and Joe’s gold medal performance, both wrestlers now advance to the WOSSAA Championships.  These will be held in Tillsonburg next Friday, February 15th.

[ Photo Gallery ]  Photos by Mr. Ellison

Mr. Ellison

Midget Boys Basketball

The Midget Boys Basketball Team captured their first win yesterday defeating Goderich 47-27.
Fraser Urquhart put down 12 points followed by Russell McIntosh with 8 and both Connor Preston and Andrew Davis with 6 points. Exceptional defense was credited to Brendan Near, Gord Cookson and Matt Stacey. 

In the second game, the boys lost 39-26 against Clinton. It was a slow start defensively for the team as they made the adjustment from the small gym to the large court. They gave up 25 points in the first half and only scored 12. They tied Clinton in the second half, as they held Clinton to 14 points and scored 14 of their own. Again, Fraser Urquhart came up big offensively and scored 13 points followed by Russell McIntosh with 7 and Connor Preston with 4 points.

The boys play their next 2 games on Feb 07, 2008  in Listowell against Goderich and Listowell.

Ms Lawrence

Senior Girls Volleyball

On Thursday January 10 the Senior Girls Volleyball team traveled to Clinton to take on the Mitchell Blue Devils and the St. Annes Eagles.

In the first match the girls defeated the Blue Devils 3 games to zero.  In the first set the girls came out strong.  Leading the team was setter Brittany Sterkenburg who went on a 8 point serving run.  Final score 25 - 5.

In second match against Mitchell the senior Dawgs came out flat allowing the Blue Devils to stay in the game.  Holding it together the Dawgs went on to win 25 - 19.

In the final match against the Devils the Salukis started pulling it together on a much improved Devils squad and won 25 - 14.

In the second match of the day the Senior Lukes faced the hard hitting St. Anne Eagles. 

In the first match the Lukes came out flat after some slopping play against Mitchell.  Half way through the match the Dawgs started playing well but after giving the Eagles an 8 point lead at the start were unable to catch up and lost 20 - 25.

In the second and third sets the Senior Salukis started firing on all cylinders.  With Lauren Thomson and Brittany Bailey shutting down the St. Annes best hitter and setters Brittany Sterkenburg and Katie Curtis spreading the ball around the Salukis rolled to wins of 25 - 20 and 25 - 17.

Congratulations to the girls on a great day of volleyball.

Mr. Moore

Midget Boys Basketball

The Midget Boys Basketball Team played 2 good games yesterday. In their first game of the season they got off to a slow start and let St. Mikes rule the floor. By the second half of that game they adjusted to the pace and scored 19 points and only allowed 24. Top scorers of that game were Charlie Irwin with 6 points and Kyle Mansfield with 5 points. Strong defense from Fraser Urquhart, Brendon Near and Gordon Cookson helped contain St. Mikes in the second half.

In the second game, the boys lost 37-51 against Listowel .Their offense improved by 14 points from the first game, but their defense only improved by 9 points. The overall play was much improved with the fast break working very well and a lot more patience on offense. Top scorers for this game were Charlie Irwin with 12, Fraser Urquhart 10, and Andrew Davis with 4 points.
Russell McIntosh did an awesome job of finishing the fast break, Matt Stacey played very strong defense and Connor Preston stepped up on offense and was rewarded with a basket.

The boys play 2 games on Jan. 10, 2008  in Clinton against Goderich and Clinton.
Good start guys!

[ Photo Gallery ]  Photos by Mr. McAsh

Ms Lawrence

Midget Girls Volleyball

The midget girls volleyball team saw their first action of the season yesterday at St. Mikes.  The team was split into 2 teams - Team White, led by Mr. Richardson and Team Red, coached by Mrs. Chateauvert.

Both teams showed much improvement. There were many tight matches throughout the day.  Team White played five matches and split games with South Huron and St. Mikes.  Team Red played four matches and split with South Huron.  In the final game of the day, Team White and Team Red were pitted against one another.  In two close games, Team White was victorious.  Great job girls.

[ Photo Gallery ]  Photos by Mrs. Chateauvert

Mrs. Chateauvert

Senior Girls Vollyeball

The Lady Lukes played host to Listowel and Central Huron for the first volleyball matches of the 2007-08 season.  The Seniors began the day matched against the Listowel Lightning.  The team got of to a slow start with missed serves and a slack defence losing the first game 25-23.  In the second game the girls decided to play volleyball and with strong setting from Katie Curtis and Brittany Sterkenberg the Lukes offence was too much for the Lightning to handle.  The girls won this game 25 -23.  In the third game, the girls rallied to catch the explosive Lightning but then lost focus with the result being 25-21.  Stacey Anderson served strongly through the match and eventually got her teammates to follow her lead. 

After a brief rest the Lady Lukes then took to the court against the Central Huron Redmen.  Again a slow start was the result of the rest but strong blocking at the net by Lisa Nethercott , Ella Urquart and Lauren Thomson frustrated the Redmen and the girls won the first game 25- 21.  In the second game Liz Sproat went on a serving run delivering 9 consecutive serves.  This combined with the strong setting by  Steph Hairsine allowed the girls to win easily with a score of 25- 14.  Defensively the third game was our best game.  Nicole Pearson and Liz Sproat made playing back row look easy with most of their passes on the “money: Playing right side and setting the block were Emily McNaughton and  Shauna Scheuerman.

The Lady Lukes were playing shorthanded as both Lauren Stacey and Brittanie Bailey were on the sick list and had to be scratched from the line up for the day.

Good Work Ladies!!! 

Mrs. Waldick

Senior Boys Basketball

This past weekend the senior boys basketball team hosted their fifth annual DCVI - GymCon Ltd tournament.

In their first game Friday the Salukis played Woodstock St Mary’s HS. The Salukis played well through three of four quarters but in the third quarter gave up 23 points and lost 67-39.  Tristan Dundas lead the team with 12 points and Barry Theal added 7 points. 

On Saturday morning St Marys played Exeter South Huron in a consolation semifinal game.  St Marys was out rebounded by South Huron in a 53-34 loss. James Robinson scored 9 points and Barry Theal added another 7 points.

In their final game of the tournament, St Marys played Clinton St Anne’s, who the Salukis had defeated the previous Wednesday in league action.  St Marys worked on moving the ball on offence in defeating St Anne’s 52-37. Tristan Dundas scored 12 points and Glen Bilyea had a strong offensive game with 11 points.

In the consolation championship game South Huron defeated Parkhill North Middlesex 55-47. In the championship final St Thomas St Joseph’s defeated Ingersoll 61-52.  Lord Dorchester HS rounded out the eight team tournament.

The Salukis travel to Stratford St Mike’s this Wednesday, December 12, for two Huron-Perth games. Their first game is against the hosts St Mike’s followed by Wingham FE Madill. (Game times not confirmed.) On Monday, December 17, St Marys hosts the Listowel Lightning; seniors at 2:30 pm followed by the juniors at 3:50 pm.

Members of the senior team are: James Robinson, Jorge Olivier, Mike Glover, Glen Bilea,
Barry Theal, Will Fink, Shawn Nairn, Tristan Dundas, Kyle Sagar, Jamie O’Neill, Jon McPhail, and  Reece Fuhr.  Coach: Andy Hairsine.

Jr Boys Basketball Tips Off

The Junior Boys Basketball team made its season debut this weekend at Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton.  On Friday night, the team battled through some lake effect snow to take on the tournament favourites, Lambton Central (Petrolia).  After working through some pre-game jitters, the boys competed well against the Lancers, losing 47-27 (Leyser 10, Smeenk 8).  On Saturday morning, the Salukis faced the Listowel Lightning.  The boys played much better, battling back from a ten point half-time deficit.  Despite the balanced scoring attack, the boys came up just short, losing 55-49 (Milne 11, Coddington 10).  The final challenge of the day was against the South Huron Panthers. Several new players made scoring contributions while the team battled foul trouble.  The Panthers' dominant player (rumoured to be playing Senior this season) was bothered all game by Scott Anderson's strong defensive play.  In the end, the Salukis kept it close, but couldn't pull out the victory.  The final score was 48-41 (Leyser 13, Milne 7, Smeenk 7).

The boys improved all weekend and will now focus on preparing for the first game of the regular season, hosting St. Anne's on Wednesday, December 5^th.  Come out and support the team!  The double-header with the seniors will tip off at 3pm at DCVI.

[ Photo Gallery ]  Photos by Mrs. Milne

Mr. Shaddick