Double celebration for Lakers
Great Lakes Christian High School had twice the reason for celebrating last week.
The Beamsville school came away with a pair of Niagara Regional High School Athletic Association Zone 4 A championships in senior boys basketball and senior girls volleyball.
“It was huge,” volleyball coach Brad Cook said. “We had a little pep rally to cheer everyone on before we went to our games and the following day the principal and some of the teachers had arranged for balloons in the lobby. It was a big celebration for sure.
“It’s rare to get a championship, let alone two, in one day.”
Basketball coach Dwayne Williams agreed.
“We were jacked up. Our teachers and students and all staff were ecstatic,” he said.
The girls volleyball won the Tier 2 title with a 25-22, 22-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-11 triumph over the Niagara Christian College Navigators.
“The final game was a nail-bitter from start to finish,” Cook said. “Just like our game in the regular season, we won the first set and they won sets two and three. That meant we had to win both the fourth and fifth sets which we were able to win.”
The Lakers defeated the St. Catharines Collegiate Saints in five sets in the quarter-finals and first-place Franco Niagara in straight sets in the semifinals.
The Lakers finished the season 8-3 overall with a roster of 12 players, including at least one player from each grade.
“We were successful because of the way we worked together as a team and always encouraged one another,” Cook said. “Having not seen what the other teams could do after not having sports for the last couple of years, I knew I had a talented team, I just didn’t know how they stacked up against the competition.”
Cook was proud how the team stuck together through the lockdown in January.
“We had two months off between games. As soon as we started practising again in February all the players came back,” he said.
Members of the team are: Gianna Garcia, Sadie Kennedy, Abbey Cook, Erika Tallman, Jorja Tallman, Kathlean Dauag, Eva Breukelman, Ola Oludipe, Tito Olubekjo, Ella Kizito, Isabella Pijl and Lisa Guamaraes (manager).
The boys basketball team defeated the Beamsville Bucs 48-29 in the semifinals before topping Smithville Christian 46-35 in the final.
The Lakers last won a boys basketball title in 1991.
Malachi Scott, who averaged 24 points per game and was named team most valuable player, scored 22 in the final. Olise Omife adde 11 points, Jeremiah Okon seven, Demi Olapoju four and Naythan Allen two.
The Lakers finished with an overall mark of 11-6.
Williams, who has coached for 20 years and was part of a championship as a player in 1985, was thrilled with the title.
“We were in the Zone 4 final game three of the last five seasons but were never able to get over the hump,” he said. “We’ve been playing with schools double and triple our size for many years and we’ve held our own, but for us to get to the end and make it over the top is great feeling, not just for me, but great for the guys too.”
Williams felt the ups and downs of the season were a blessing in disguise.
“As you can see, we weren’t winning every game. We were struggling for a little bit which is good because it builds character and the guys were learning how to play with each other as a team. It’s good we were stretched and challenged along the way,” he said.
Members of the team are: El-Roi Halliday, Clinton Luk, Demi Olapoju, Olise Omide, Malachi Scott, Tedd Cao, Nathan Allen, Anthony Liu, Jeremiah Okon and Jim Jin.
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