Ridley roundup
First Boys Basketball
Ridley First Boys Basketball Team played host to variety of teams in a tournament from around the Golden Horseshoe and beyond.
In their first match up with J.C. McGuigan the Tigers played a back and forth game, eventually clamping down on defence and forcing the ball out of the hands of McGuigan’s top scorer. Adam Mcdonald led all scorers with an impressive 26 points, repeatedly finishing strong through traffic in the paint.
In the Tigers’ second game they managed to handily pull away from Dundas Valley Secondary School on the back of a flurry of made three pointers from S.J. Tuedor and Mugina Karugire.
Finishing top of their pool and heading into a semifinal matchup with Noble Prep from the Bahamas, the Tigers found themselves run down and with a number of nagging injuries. Ridley held tough for a quarter-and-a-half but ultimately ran out of gas against an athletic and energized Noble Prep Academy who continued to leak out and run the ball, exploiting some of the home team’s fatigue. Despite the eventual blow out loss in the semifinal, the coaches recognize the tough play and growth from a number of players logging big minutes to fill in for the depleted starting lineup. Valentino Labeja, Daniel Jude-Monye, and Mackenzie Kemp-Griffin showed exceptional determination all tournament.
Prep Boys Basketball
The Prep Boys Basketball Team started the 2020 with a bang defeating visiting Excel Prep 89-71 in front of more than 300 fans in the Fieldhouse Friday night.
Led by Cormac McMahon’s 29 points, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. With three starters out of the lineup, Johnny Avgousti (18 points, 6 rebounds) and Kiano Heath (10 points, 6 rebounds), both put up solid performances while the bench more than stepped up with Joshua Loblaw leading the way scoring 15 points and Simon Bailey, S.J. Tuedor and Topaz Nnani all making solid contributions at both ends of the floor in the victory.
The Tigers travel to TRC Academy Tuesday before a run of three straight games at home starting with the best team in Canada, Orangeville Prep, on Friday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m.
Prep Girls Hockey
The Prep Girls Hockey Team kicked off the new year with a 4-0 weekend in Junior Women’s Hockey League action in Boston.
The Tigers defeated Washington Pride 2-1 in overtime as Emma Penner and Abygail Grexton scored.
Next up was a 3-1 win over Boston Shamrocks as Penner, Grexton and Brooklyn Clark scored.
Luisa Welcke had three and Grexton two in a 5-1 win over the Philidelphia Jr Flyers.
Ridley wrapped things up with a 3-1 victory over Balmoral Hall of Winnipeg as Luisa Welcke, Lillie Welcke and Abby Russell scored.
If the Tigers win their four remaining JWHL games, they’ll clinch top spot and finish first in JWHL regular season.
As part of the U18 German National Team, Lilli and Luisa Welcke competed in the 2020 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championships. With their 2-1 gold medal victory over Japan in the finals, Germany returns to the top division at next year’s championship.
Prep Boys Hockey
The Prep Boys Hockey Team split four games at the the Midwest Prep Hockey League Crossover Weekend in Cleveland.
The Tigers dropped a 3-2 shootout loss to Lake Forest Academy, defeated Gilmour Academy 4-3 in overtime, lost 7-3 to Shady Side Academy, and edged St. Francis Prep 605.
The Tigers are now 29-12-3-1 overall.
Rylee Hlusiak and Luke Haymes each had three goals, while Robbie Stewart, Nick Athanasakos and Sam Christiano each had two.
Brandon While and Carlo Muraro each earned wins in goal.
“Given this was our first weekend back from an extended break, there was some sloppiness that was to be expected,” coach Mike McCourt said. “And while we may not have had the best of weekends record wise, we were able to earn enough points to remain in a tie of first place heading into the final MPHL divisional weekend.”
Up Next: CISAA Game Tuesday, Jan, 14 at Upper Canada College.
First Boys Hockey
First Boys Hockey lost their home opener 6-3 this past week in a tough battle against De La Salle.
Some great goaltending by Sammy Roots kept the game at 1-0 score at the end of the first period, and a late goal in the second by Bradyn Wark gave the Tigers momentum going into the break down 4-1.
After a great talk from coach Lee, the Tigers came out firing with quick goals by Sammy Rodriguez and Wark to narrow the deficit to 4-3. Great goaltending down the stretch by Xavier West kept it close until the final two minutes where De La Salle would add one on an odd-man rush and an empty netter, putting it out of reach.
JV Girls Hockey
The Junior Varsity Girls Hockey Team hosted Governor Simcoe for their first game of the season.
Ridley came out strong and never let up the pressure, securing a 10-2 victory.
Veteran skaters Vanessa and Abby Ferrante, Hannah McMaster, and Rylie Wake provided much of the offensive effort, while rookie Maya Sirhan earned her first goal as a Tiger.
Solid team defence and dependable goaltending from netminders Brynn Lund and Elyza West stumped Simcoe.
First Girls Volleyball
First Girls Volleyball defeated De La Salle 23-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-14 to remain undefeated in CISAA competition.
Tiger tales: Former Prep Boys player A.J. Cook scored his first Ontario Hockey League goal with the Niagara IceDogs last week while Prep Boys defenceman Alex Blanchard netted his first junior B goal for the Thorold Blackhawks.
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