Goulbourn Bantam Boys Bring Home a
Division 1 Gold
from Blessed Sacrament
The Goulbourn Hornets Bantam Boys
basketball competed in Division 1 of the Blessed
Sacrament basketball tournament in Hamilton on April 1-3
and returned home with gold medals! The tournament
featured a number of very close games and a high level
of competition.
The Hornets opened the tournament
on Friday night against the Guelph CYO All Stars. Guelph
was a fast team with good shooters, so Goulbourn
attempted to control the tempo and play sound defense.
The strategy proved to be successful, as the Hornets
prevailed 58-56 in a game with several lead changes and
a high level of intensity.
The first game on Saturday against
the North Toronto Huskies brought even more drama. North
Toronto had taken the first meeting of these two teams
back in December by 14 points, so the Hornets knew that
they would face a tough challenge. The Hornets opened
strong to establish and early lead, but were eventually
tied in the second quarter. Things remained tight for
the whole game to set the stage for an exciting finish
in the last minute of the game. With the Hornets
clinging to a one point lead, the Huskies gained
possession in the final seconds, but could not penetrate
the tight defense. As the clock ticked down, North
Toronto hit a desperation 3-pointer to steal the
victory.
A quick recovery was necessary, as
the next opponent was the Kitchener-Waterloo Vipers, a
team ranked in the top 10 in Ontario. Emotionally
drained from the heartbreaking defeat to North Toronto,
the Hornets quickly fell behind the talented Vipers team
20-4 and were down 37-12 at halftime. After making some
adjustments and showing great character, the Hornets
fought back to trail by 41-23 entering the fourth
quarter. The two teams played even in the fourth
quarter, leading to a final score of 54-36 for the
Vipers.
The third place finish in their pool meant
that the Hornets would cross over to the other pool and
face the Cambridge Centaurs in the semi-finals on
Sunday. Goulbourn opened strongly to establish an early
19-12 lead and led 28-21 at halftime. The Hornets again
started well in the third quarter and extended the lead
to 46-31 going into the fourth on the strength of a
stingy defense and good outside shooting. The Centaurs
staged a comeback attempt, but eventually succumbed to
the Hornets by a score of 57-51. It was on to the gold
medal game!
The Niagara Falls Red Raiders were
the gold medal game opponent and one that was familiar
to the Hornets. Goulbourn had twice faced the Red
Raiders in a January tournament and won both by a
combined six points. This time, the game would not be as
close. Peaking at just the right time, the Hornets
combined solid team play, accurate shooting and a
dominant inside game to earn a 58-40 championship
victory. The boys should be proud of the resiliency they
showed against very strong competition in bringing home
the gold.
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Back Row (Left to Right): Coach Dan Byron, Adam Hosny, Coach Dave Dobson
Middle Row (Left to Right): Shandon Ashitei, Daniel Byron, Adam Whitmore, Aaron Clausen, Kaelen Adams, Liam Dobson and Cole Seabrook
Front Row (Left to Right): Quintin Ashitei, Riley Roy, Andrew Evraire |
Goulbourn
Bantam Boys Finish Second in US Basketball Tournament
The Goulbourn Hornets Bantam Boys
basketball team competed in the Ogdensburg Boys and
Girls Club Grade 7/8 Youth Basketball Tournament on
February 19-20 and returned north with the second place
trophies. This tournament featured teams from northern
New York State. Goulbourn was the only Canadian team and
the only team that was comprised exclusively of grade 7
players.
The first two round robin games were
against Canton and Lisbon and the Hornets won these by
scores of 59-25 and 66-20 respectively. In achieving
these margins of victory, Goulbourn played good
fundamental basketball, with strong defense, shooting
and team play. The last round robin game was against the
host Ogdensburg team that had size and skill throughout
the line-up. The Hornets played hard, but trailed early
and never recovered, eventually falling 62-33.
Goulbourn’s 2-1 record placed them 3rd entering the
playoff round.
The Hornets’ quarterfinal opponent was
the team from Canton that they had played to open the
tournament. This game proved to be a stiffer test than
the first meeting, as Canton came out with a very
aggressive physical style of play that seemed to disrupt
the Hornets offense. The score remained within 4 points
for most of the first half, but the Hornets stretched
this to a 21-13 advantage at halftime. Goulbourn
continued its strong defensive play in the second half
and survived the physical assault to prevail 38-24 and
move on to the semi-finals.
The semi-final opponent was the 2nd
ranked and undefeated Thousand Islands team. This game
proved to be a very entertaining affair featuring two
evenly matched teams. The score stayed close in the
first half, with the Hornets leading 22-21 at half. The
high level of intensity continued in the second half,
but the Hornets were eventually able to stretch the lead
to as many as 15 points. Goulbourn was effective early
by getting the ball inside to either score or draw fouls
and was also opportunistic with the transition game.
Doing a good job defensively to contain Thousand
Islands’ best player was also a key to clinching a 57-45
victory and a berth in the championship game and the
inevitable rematch with Ogdensburg.
The Hornets started well in the final
game and pulled out to an early 3-0 lead, but trailed
11-5 after 5 minutes. Play was very even for the
remainder of the first quarter, with Ogdensburg holding
a 20-13 lead. The size, skill and experience of the
Ogdensburg team eventually allowed them to widen the
lead to 40-17 at halftime. The Hornets continued to play
hard in the second half, but ultimately fell 60-28 to
the very impressive host team. While the loss was
disappointing, the coaches and parents are very proud of
the boys’ second place finish and the heart that they
showed in competing to the end against very difficult
opposition.
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|
Front Row (Left to Right):
Riley
Roy,
Andrew
Evraire,
Daniel
Byron,
Aaron
Clausen,
Quintin
Ashitei
Back Row (Left to Right):
Liam
Dobson,
Cole
Seabrook,
Kaelen
Adams,
Adam
Hosny,
Adam
Whitmore,
Shandon
Ashitei,
Coach
Dan
Byron
Missing:
Coach
Dave
Dobson
|
Bantam Boys Win Bronze
in Dramatic Fashion
at AAA Tournament in Southern Ontario
The Goulbourn Hornets Bantam Boys
basketball team returned from their first tournament of 2011
with bronze medals around their necks. The Hornets competed
in the IEM tournament in Newmarket on the weekend of January
28-31 and were placed in a pool with AAA and strong AA teams
from Southern Ontario. Their first opponent was the host IEM
Newmarket team on Friday night. After a quick start to
establish a 9-2 first quarter lead, Goulbourn played well
enough the rest of the way to win a low scoring game 41-31.
The first of three Saturday games was
against the Advantage Titans from Ajax. This was a very
competitive game with several lead changes. Goulbourn jumped
out to a 4 point first quarter lead, but trailed at half and
at the end of the third quarter. The Hornets kept fighting
and put together a tremendous fourth quarter in which they
outscored the Titans 17-7 to claim a 50-45 victory. This was
a great team effort, with 8 different players scoring.
During the fourth quarter rally, the Hornets were able to
win the battles in the paint and hit free throws to seal the
victory.
Next up were the Niagara Falls Red Raiders. The
Hornets again started very strong and opened up a 19-7 first
quarter lead and stretched the lead to 28-11 at half. The
Red Raiders began the second half with a flurry, outscoring
the Hornets 20-8 to get back in the game. In staging the
comeback, the Red Raiders realized that they could not score
inside on the Hornets defense and had success outside with
their best shooter hitting a trio of 3-pointers. Goulbourn
adjusted to seal a 45-41 victory.
The last game of the day and the
preliminary round was against the undefeated and
highly-ranked Oakville Vytis #1 team. Oakville had been
playing a high pressure defense during the tournament, so
the Hornets prepared by adjusting their formations to deal
with the pressure. This adjustment seemed to work, as
Goulbourn led 12-11 after the first quarter and were able
advance the ball against the Oakville pressure. The second
quarter was very even and the teams entered halftime tied
26-26. The tempo picked up at the beginning of the second
half. After falling behind by 11 points, the Hornets fought
back to trail 46-40 entering the fourth quarter. Despite a
great effort, Goulbourn was ultimately defeated 63-51 by
Oakville, who ended up being tournament champions.
On Sunday afternoon, the Hornets advanced
to the Bronze Medal Game and a rematch with Niagara Falls.
This game turned out to be a defensive battle, with the
Hornets going out to a 7-6 lead at the end of the first
quarter and leading 18-16 at half. Remembering the earlier
game, Goulbourn focused on stopping the outside shots,
holding the Red Raiders outside scoring threat pointless.
After several lead changes, the Red Raiders led by 1 point
after three quarters. The game remained tight throughout the
fourth quarter and was tied with 1.9 seconds remaining and
the Hornets’ Cole Seabrook at the line shooting two. Showing
nerves of steel, Cole hit both free throws to win the game
in dramatic fashion. The tournament organizers commented
that the Hornets’ 38-36 victory was by far the most exciting
game of the weekend.
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Front Row (Left to Right):
Shandon
Ashitei,
Quintin
Ashitei
Middle
Row
(Left
to
Right):
Andrew
Evraire,
Aaron
Clausen,
Adam
Whitmore,
Riley
Roy
Back Row (Left to Right):
Kaelen
Adams,
Adam
Hosny,
Cole
Seabrook,
Liam
Dobson,
Coach
Dan
Byron,
Daniel
Byron,
Coach
Dave
Dobson
Submitted by
Dee
Whitmore
Manager
–
Goulbourn
Hornets
Bantam
Boys
|
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