March 11 Local Sports: Williamson OUA Coach of the Year; Red Raiders boys basketball; Smithville Christian volleyball
WILLIAMSON TOP COACH
Brock men’s hockey coach Marty Williamson has been named Ontario University Athletics’ Coach of the Year for the second straight season.
“We had a heck of year,” Williamson told the Brock Athletics website. “I’m very grateful to how hard our team worked. We set a school record for wins and we finished one point out of first place.
“Obviously, it’s a little disappointing with the playoffs, but injuries caught up to us. I’m proud of the year.”
Brock recorded a 19-5-4-0 record and made the second round of the OUA playoffs.
“Marty is an unbelievable coach and I’m not surprised he won this award,” Brock captain Brody Silk told the Brock Athletics website. ”I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of good coaches in my career, but the way Marty coaches and knows the game is superior compared to his peers.”
RED RAIDERS ROLLING
The Niagara Red Raiders under-11 boys basketball team has been on a roll in recent tournament play.
The squad, coached by Tracy Phelps, Brian McMahon and Justin French, won the HoopDome Tournament and was a bronze medalist at the Blessed Sacrament Tournament.
Members of the team are Olivier Michel, Fionn McMahon, Eric Kaufmann, Noah del Mundo, Mally Woodroffe, Gianni LoStracco, Jordan Lennox, Willy Kibowa Jr., Nishan Thapa, Jalen French, Liam Williams and Kian Alibegic.
HOSTS ARE CHAMPIONS
The Niagara Falls Red Raiders major bantam boys basketball team won the gold medal at their home tournament, defeating Orillia 58-51 in the final.
On the way to the final, Niagara Falls defeated Barrie 61-47 and Brantford 57-44.
STORM FOURTH AT OFSAA
The Smithville Christian Storm senior girls volleyball team returned from the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations A tournament with an antique bronze (fourth) medal.
Smithville Christian fell 3-0 (25-12, 25-15 and 25-22) to eventual champion Mere Teresa in the semifinals and 3-2 (26-28, 17-25, 25-21, 25-13 and 15-11) to ES. Pere Rene de Galinee in the bronze-medal.
The Storm advanced to the semifinals by defeating St. Thomas Aquinas 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-22 and 25-13) in the quarter-finals.
In pool play, Smithville Christian was a perfect 3-0, defeating Quinte Christian 2-1 (23-25, 25-22 and 16-14), St. Mary Catholic 2-0 (25-14 and 25-14) and ESC Renaissance 2-0 (25-16 and 25-11).
