Niagara College Sports Report Feb. 20
The Niagara College Knights women’s basketball team advanced to the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association quarter-finals with a 95-35 swamping of the St. Lawrence Surge last Saturday at home.
“As far as complete efforts go I think we put in a pretty good one today. We were really locked into the plan and what we needed to do,” Niagara head coach Chris Rao said. “As a team, we were awesome defensively. Between Jamira (Rousseau), Janee (Harrison) and a few others, we forced their best player (Ella) Doull into 16 turnovers and I think it just speaks to how physical and disciplined we played on that end. Offensively we really shared the ball and I was happy with how we played.”
Niagara had four starters in double digits and eight players had six or more points.
“The real story of the day is how amazing Janee Harrison was. She had 29 points, nine boards and six steals two days after her and her family experienced a tremendous personal loss. It was an incredible performance to witness,” Rao said. “It speaks to Janee’s competitive nature and the way she approaches everything she does. As a staff and a team, we couldn’t be more proud of her.”
Harrison was named Niagara College’s Female Athlete of the Week for her performance.
Also contributing for Niagara were: Lexxus Bell with 17 points and seven steals; Molly Taylor with 12 points; Taryn Mitchell with 10 points; Rousseau with seven points, seven assists and five rebounds; and, Destiny Osadebamwen and Diana Saoud with seven points each.
Niagara hosts Fanshawe (5-11 in regular season including a 79-56 loss to Niagara on Nov. 11) Saturday at 2 p.m. The winner advances to the OCAA championships March 1-3.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Niagara’s men’s basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 75-70 home loss in overtime to the Seneca Sting.
“I feel for 13 young men who dedicated themselves to our program and made us proud every time they stepped on the court. I thought we executed our game plan defensively very well, however, we struggled with our perimeter shooting and that allowed Seneca to stay close,” Niagara head coach Phil Mosley said. “Full credit to Seneca. They hit some big shots down the stretch. We have outstanding young men with high character and as coaches you really can’t ask for more.”
Topping the stat sheet for Niagara were: Kenneth Reckley, Jr. with 16 points, nine rebounds, one assist, four steals and two blocks; Raheem Dennis with 11 points, five rebounds, one assist and three steals; and, Khayden Stewart with 10 points, two rebounds, four assists and five steals.
For his efforts, Reckley Jr. was named Niagara College’s Male Athlete of the Week.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
The Knights women’s volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision (25-22, 29-31, 18-25 and 16-25) to the Loyalist Lancers in the OCAA quarter-finals.
“That’s a good team in Loyalist so congratulations to them. I’m so proud of these girls and what they accomplished this year. We have a young team, a lot of rookies who started and contributed at a high level all year. I know we’re going to be even better next year with all this experience gained,” Niagara head coach Steve Stone said. “The girls were prepared and ready as they took it to Loyalist in the first set. Second set, to have that many opportunities to close that set, disappointing for sure but we felt like we were in a good place still. In the end I think we got a bit tentative and didn’t go try to win the game like we needed to.
“Although it’s not the end we were hoping for, these girls did an amazing job overcoming adversity this year and staying dedicated to the goal and working together. The time and effort the girls put in all year shows with their improvement and growth over the course of the season. It was an absolute honour to be their coach and I loved going to battle with this group.”
Top performers for Niagara were: Montanna Taylor with 18 assists, nine digs and four kills; Sophia Matias with 11 kills and eight digs; and, Sam Cormier with seven kills and six blocks.
Cormier, a Sir Winston Churchill product, was named to the OCAA West Division All-Rookie Team.
