No.2 HAWKS HEAD TO NIAGARA TO DEFEND CHAMPIONSHIP
WELLAND, ON: The no.2 Humber Hawks (18-0, 1st West) are headed to Welland in hopes of defending their OCAA championship. After going undefeated during the regular season and earning a bye into the tournament, the Hawks will be matched against the St. Clair Saints (13-5, 4th West) in the quarter-finals.
The Saints played their way into the tournament after defeating the Durham Lords (8-6, 4th East) on the road during crossover weekend. Down ten in the first half, St. Clair went on a devastating run in the second half, coming from behind to win 73-60. St. Clair's defence held the OCAA's leading scorer Lindsay Panchan to five of 17 shooting and their offence took advantage every foul, missing only one free throw throughout the game. Second-year forward Torrie Handsor led the Saints to victory after recording 17 points and 11 rebounds.
The Hawks currently have a 34-game win-streak against OCAA opponents and would like nothing more than to have the streak reach 37. The last OCAA team to beat Humber was the St. Clair Saints in Windsor back in 2014. St. Clair edged the Hawks 67-63 in a total team effort, as five Saints scored double-digits.
This season, the Hawks swept the season series, winning both contests by an average of 20 points. In their last meeting, Humber came away with a 79-66 win at the Humber Athletic Centre. Fourth-year guard Natalie Hagopian (Thornhill) recorded a game-high 22 points, while freshman point guard Felicia Velasquez (Brampton) grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds.
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BY THE NUMBERS |
|||||||||||
|
Team |
Games |
Record |
Streak |
Home |
Away |
PPG |
FG% |
3PT% |
FT% |
RPG |
APG |
|
St. Clair |
18 |
13-5 |
Won 3 |
6-3 |
7-2 |
72.3 |
39.9 |
27.6 |
69.3 |
46.4 |
15.9 |
|
Humber |
18 |
18-0 |
Won 18 |
9-0 |
9-0 |
80.6 |
41.0 |
27.0 |
66.0 |
53.5 |
21.5 |
|
Team Leaders |
||||
|
Humber Hawks |
St. Clair Saints |
|||
|
14.3 |
PPG |
15.0 |
Jaide Lyons |
|
|
Ceejay Nofuente |
8.7 |
RPG |
6.6 |
Torrie Handsor |
|
Ceejay Nofuente |
6.4 |
APG |
3.5 |
Jaide Lyons |
|
Ceejay Nofuente |
4.5 |
SPG |
2.3 |
Shannon Kennedy |
|
Jill Semple |
1.2 |
BPG |
1.8 |
Nicole Tamm |
The Hawks offence set a new OCAA record after scoring 1450 points this season and leading the way was CCAA All-Canadian hopeful Ceejay Nofuente (Toronto), who led the team in four offensive categories.
All games 2016 OCAA Championship games will be streamed live at www.goknights.ca/watchlive. Tickets will be available at the door for $8 per day or $15 for a tournament pass.
Make sure to follow us on twitter @HumberHawks for live, in-game updates.
