As March gave way to April this past weekend, another year of winter sports wrapped up at Huntsville High School. It was a season of success that featured multiple teams winning local and regional championships, with several groups also moving on to represent HHS at the provincial level.
The Hoyas boys hockey team travelled to Ottawa for the OFSAA provincial championships in early March, after fighting their way to top spot in the Muskoka Parry Sound circuit and finishing second in the Georgian Bay finals. The boys made their town proud on the provincial stage, winning their final game of the tournament in addition to being presented with the OFSAA Sportsmanship Award.
The junior girls volleyball squad learned a lot as a team this season, finishing in third place at the MPS year-end tournament and suggesting a bright future for girls volleyball at HHS in the coming years. The senior girls team went on to win their MPS division, and came up just short to finish second in the Georgian Bay finals against a competitive group from Patrick Fogerty.
“Patrick Fogerty is a very strong, skilled team with many players at the club level,” said coach Joanne Nichols. “When an opportunity comes up for our teams to play and compete against a higher level, it provides a great experience. Our girls played with a lot of spirit and heart, and even though the outcome was not what any team wants, the team finished their season on such a proud moment. Our Principal, Kim Williams, came to congratulate the girls on a successful season, a season that a senior girls volleyball team has not seen for some time.”
The senior team will be seeing several players move on to post secondary next year, including Alexis Berry, Phylicia Earl and Amber Maw, while the rest of the group will look to replicate their success back at HHS next season.
In Alpine skiing, the Level 1 girls team won team gold at the GBSSA Invitational GS at Georgian Peaks, while the Level 2 girls team brought home the silver and Level 2 boys won bronze. In Nordic skiing, HHS was all over the podium at GBSSA, with the junior boys and senior girls coming third, the junior girls finishing fifth, and senior boys placing first. In total, HHS qualified 24 athletes to OFSAA, where Natasha Varieur captured the bronze medal in the junior girls individual distance category. Just behind Varieur, the senior boys team finished fourth, the junior boys fifth and senior girls sixth. With much of the team moving on to continue their education at college and university next year, HHS will be looking for a new wave of athletes to defend their MPS and GBSSA titles next winter.
Both junior and senior boys basketball teams also went on incredible runs this season. The junior boys, who went undefeated in league play, continued the trend into their postseason, defeating every opponent they faced en route to winning both the MPS and GBSSA titles.
“The junior boys finished up at the top of their game,” said coach Terry Barber. “They played their best game in the championship, both defensively and offensively, despite being outsized. I am very proud of the team, all of our accomplishments and how far they have come this season.”
The senior team also finished in first place in MPS after hitting a late game buzzer beater to move on to the GBSSA championship. At the regional level, the boys showed class and skill to advance to the tournament finals, only to lose a heartbreaker by one point in overtime, one second away from heading to OFSAA.
“Both teams came out to play,” said coach Kelly Picken. “Our boys worked very well as a team. They were very patient and passed the ball well, waiting for the open man. Defensively we moved from a zone to a man to man defence early in the game as the other team had two really great shooters who needed to be guarded closely. The boys played and supported each other with all they had and could be very proud of their effort, sportsmanship and team-play.”
Takiah Ebbs-Picken led HHS in scoring with 28 points in the final, while Cooper McNeil added 20. Aaron Sutherland got the team going as he opened up the scoring with two three-pointers, and Sam Koop and Tommy Giblin dominated the boards – pulling down offensive and defensive rebounds all game.
Congrats to all the Hoyas teams, athletes and coaches!
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