St. Clair College Men’s Basketball Win Pair in Soo to Qualify for Playoffs
(Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) - The St. Clair College Men’s Basketball team pulled themselves to the .500 mark and qualified for the post-season with a pair of wins over Sault College (Sault Ste. Marie) this weekend. The Saints finished with a 10-10 record in the OCAA’s West Division and beat winless Sault 94-60 Saturday night and then held on for a 79-69 verdict on Sunday afternoon. This is the fourth straight season the Saints have qualified for the playoffs but the first time since 2013-14 that they eclipsed the 10-win threshold in the regular season.
Balanced scoring in Saturday’s lopsided win allowed the Saints to put four players in double figures with 12 of the 14 dressed reaching the scoresheet. Glynn Willis-Paris (Windsor, ON/Kennedy Collegiate) led St. Clair with 15 points adding 5 rebounds. Jalen Sykes (Redford, MI) scored 14 points but just missed a double-double with 9 rebounds. TJ Howard (Hamilton, ON) scored 12 points with David Gomez Jr. (Pontiac, MI) chipping in with 11 points and 6 assists for St. Clair.
On Sunday the Saints led by as much as 20 points in the third quarter but were able to hold on for the win down the stretch with Gomez and Sykes both scoring 21 points. Gomez notched a double-double with 10 rebounds adding 3 assists with Sykes clearing 9 rebounds and blocking 3 shots.
The St. Clair Men’s Basketball team head to North York for a crossover playoff game on Saturday to face the East Division’s 1st seed which is tentatively scheduled for a 4:00pm tip at Seneca College. The winner of that game will advance to the OCAA Provincial Championship tournament being hosted by Georgian College in Barrie Feb. 28-Mar. 2. St. Clair has travelled to Seneca the last two years for this same crossover playoff game.
Women's Volleyball Off to Championship
(Windsor, Ontario) - The St. Clair College women’s volleyball team advanced to the OCAA Championship after a hard fought 3-0 win over a pesky La Cite Coyotes squad on Saturday afternoon at the Sportsplex.
Set scores for the Saints were 25-18, 25-23 and 25-17. The Coyotes played some incredible defense throughout the match to keep it tight. The Saints earned 65 of their 75 points as La Cite only committed 6 errors in the entire match. St. Clair is currently ranked 2nd in Ontario and 10th in Canada. The Coyotes finished in 6th place in the OCAA East Division. The Saints also had to battle through losing starter Jordyn Pranger (London; Medway) who went down with a knee injury in the first set.
Rookie outside hitter Amelia Oliverio (Windsor; St. Joseph’s) had a huge match for St. Clair with 9 kills on 23 attempts, 6 service aces and 5 digs. Te-Anna Stephenson (Whitby; Sinclair Secondary) also had a big game with 14 kills on 20 attempts and 12 digs. Middle Jessica Masse (Cottam; Essex District) had a solid match as well with 8 kills on 15 attempts, 1 stuff block and 2 digs.
The OCAA Championship is being hosted by Cambrian College in Sudbury from February 22-24. The Saints will face Niagara College on Friday night at 8 pm in their quarterfinal match. St. Clair has faced the Knights twice this year winning both matches 3-2.