Feb. 13 Niagara College Report: Two OCAA curling silvers
Niagara College’s curling teams captured a pair of silver medals at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association championships hosted by Niagara College.
Niagara mixed doubles team, made up of Claire Randell and Nick Lemieux, went 4-1 in round-robin play to advance to the final against Humber. Humber scored two in the final end to win 8-7 and avenge an 8-7 extra-end loss to Niagara in round-robin play. Nick Lemieux was named an OCAA Second Team All-Star.
Ben Jones and McKenna McGovern won gold for Niagara in the same event in 2019-20. There is no national championship for mixed doubles.
In the women’s event, Niagara won its second straight silver medal following a 5-2 loss in the final to Humber, which won its third straight OCAA title. Niagara went 5-0 in round-robin play. Melissa Borowski and Alexa Desrochers earned OCAA First Team All-Star status while Emma Hill and Amelia Bender were named to OCAA Second Team All-Star squad. The women have qualified for the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association championships March 15-19 in Sudbury.
Niagara’s second mixed doubles team, made up of Amy Danen and Matthew Brenneman, finished the tournament at 1-4 and won the tournament’s Hap Holman Fair Play Award.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Niagara College’s women’s volleyball team wrapped up OCAA regular season play with a pair of victories.
The Knights finished with an 11-7 record following a 3-2 (25-21, 28-30, 23-25, 25-18 and 15-8) victory over Cambrian (5-13) and a 3-0 (25-18, 25-17 and 25-16) sweep against Boreal (0-18).
Montanna Taylor led the way for Niagara against Cambrian with 29 points on 14 kills. Also contributing to the victory were: Abbey Gooder with 16 points and seven kills; and, Rachael Bickford with 11 points.
Top Niagara performers versus Boreal were: Annastasia Droppert with 11 points and eight kills; Hannah Cowie with 10 points and seven kills; and, Lindsay Felker with 10 points.
The Knights finished fourth in the OCAA West Division and will travel to George Brown for an OCAA qualifier game. The winner advances to the OCAA Championship at Sheridan College Feb. 22-25.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Niagara’s men’s volleyball squad concluded its regular season with a split to finish the regular season at 9-9.
Niagara lost 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 23-25 and 20-25) to Cambrian (13-5) and recorded a 3-0 victory (25-15, 25-10 and 25-16) over Boreal (0-18).
Leading the way for Niagara against Cambrian were: Dallas Melnick with 15 points and 13 kills; Zack Reimer with nine points and six kills; and, Tieman Currie with eight points and six kills.
Top Niagara performers versus Boreal were: Connor Gambell with 12 points and 10 kills; Elijah Bugiardini with eight points and six kills; and, Tyler Carmichael with eight points and six kills.
Niagara finished sixth in the OCAA West and will play at Algonquin College in an OCAA crossover game to determine who advances to the OCAA championship.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
The Niagara College Knights men’s basketball team had a perfect week, defeating Conestoga 89-80 and Fanshawe 86-80 to improve to 10-6 in OCAA play.
Against Conestoga (9-8), Niagara trailed 45-40 at the half but rallied for the win by outscoring its opponent 49-35 in the second half.
Top performers for Niagara were: Delroy Grandison with 19 points and 11 rebounds; Ethan Alino-DelaCruz with 17 points; Rahim Bardi with 15 points and seven rebounds; and, Kennan Larmand with 12 points and five boards.
In the win over Fanshawe, the Knights led 41-39 in the half before taking command with a 31-13 advantage in the third quarter.
“I think our guys are gaining some confidence as we put together some wins at a crucial time in the season,” Niagara head coach Phil Mosley said. “We are getting solid contributions from the entire roster and our depth is starting to pay off as the season winds down.”
Leading the way for Niagara were: Grandison with 27 points and eight rebounds; Reggie Williams with 23 points; and, Larmand with 10 points.
Niagara hosts Lambton (9-8) Saturday and St. Clair (13-3) Sunday. Both games are at 3 p.m.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
The Niagara women’s basketball squad (7-7) had a .500 week, defeating Conestoga 67-59 and losing 69-56 to Fanshawe.
In the win over Conestoga (7-8), Niagara built a 35-20 lead at the half and hung on for the victory.
Playing well for Niagara were: Janee Harrison with 19 points and eight rebounds; Jamira Rousseau with 16 points; Taryn Mitchell with nine points and 11 rebounds; and, Kate Roth with eight points and six boards.
Against Fanshawe (10-5), Niagara faced quarter deficits of 17-10, 37-34 and 51-45.
Topping the stat sheet for Niagara were: Mitchell with 18 points; Roth with nine points and six boards; Rousseau with eight points; and, Molly Taylor with 14 rebounds.
Niagara hosts Lambton (13-2) Saturday and St. Clair (7-7) Sunday. Both games are at 1 p.m.
