March 26 Local sports: Niagara JUEL basketball; CFL combine results; CEBL draft
Niagara JUEL player Elle Cooney drives to the basket in play last weekend versus the Simcoe Muskoka Royals. Photo by NEIL CAMPBELL.
NIAGARA JUEL TAKES TWO
The Niagara JUEL girls basketball team improved to 9-3 on the season by going 2-1 in action this past weekend.
Niagara beat the Kingston Impact 59-42, lost 73-56 to the first-place Advantage Titans and defeated the Simcoe Muskoka Royals 73-64.
Top Niagara performers versus Kingston were: Kaley DeMont, 15 points; Olivia Krieger, 11 points; Elle Cooney, eight points; Molly Taylor, six points; Sydney Grummett, five points and 10 rebounds; Destiny Paquin, five points and six rebounds; and, Taylor Doyle, three points and four rebounds.
Topping the stats sheet versus the Advantage Titans were: Tori Rigas-DiDomenico, 13 points and three rebounds; Katimina Mansaray, 10 points and nine rebounds; Cooney, nine points and three rebounds; Doyle, nine points and two rebounds; Ally Sentance, five points and four rebounds; Taylor, four points and three rebounds; DeMont, three points and six rebounds; and, Grummett, two points and 10 rebounds.
Leading the way for Niagara against the Royals were: Mansaray, 16 points and three rebounds; Cooney, 12 points and six rebounds; O’Brien, 10 points and three rebounds; Rigas-DiDomenico, six points and three rebounds; DeMont and Taylor, six points and two rebounds; Paquin, six points; Grummett, five points and 12 rebounds; and, Doyle, four points and three rebounds.
Niagara is in fourth place in the league.
CFL COMBINE RESULTS
Mario Villamizar and Greg Corfield did not advance to the CFL national combine following their performances at the Ontario regional combine last week.
Laurier’s Villamizar, a Holy Cross grad, did 16 reps of a 225-pound bench press, ran a 4.99 second 40-yard dash, had a 29-inch vertical, an eight foot 11-inch broad jump, a time of 7.56 seconds in the three-cone drill and a time of 4.57 seconds in the shuttle drill.
Guelph’s Corfield, a Saint Paul alumnus, did 16 reps of a 225-pound bench press, ran a 5.93 second 40-yard dash, had a 22-inch vertical, an eight foot 3.13-inch broad jump, a time of 8.38 seconds in the three-cone drill and a time of 4.57 seconds in the shuttle drill.
CEBL DRAFT
Former Niagara River Lion Connor Wood was chosen third overall by the Guelph Nighthawks in last weekend’s inaugural Canadian Elite Basketball League draft.
Other former River Lions chosen by teams other than Niagara included: Marvell Waithe, selected by Guelph; and, Joe Rocca and Tramar Sutherland, picked by the Hamilton Honey Badgers.
Draft picks included: 42 players from 28 NCAA different schools; 12 athletes with NBA G-League experience; 26 players with Canadian national team experience; and, 10 international players.
“It gives me immense pleasure to see such amazing talent represent the league and its six teams,” said Mike Morreale, Chief Executive Officer of the CEBL. “Congratulations to all the players who got drafted – it’s a historic time for a Canadian basketball fan.”
The season opens in May with franchises in Fraser Valley (Abbotsford), Edmonton, Guelph, Hamilton, Saskatchewan (Saskatoon), and Niagara (St. Catharines). CEBL teams will play a 20-game regular season from May 9 to Aug.15, culminating with a league championship playoff at a site to be announced.
