And to the victors go the spoils!

The presentation of the championship trophy, signature long sleeve t-shirts has become synonymous with OBHA supremacy.  It is an accomplishment and one of the most sought after collection of trinkets in sports today.  The experience and bragging rights is the goal of most teams at the highschool level of play in the province. 

It was no doubt nothing less than a resounding experience for the boys and girls advancing to the championship finals as the teams all played good team defence, scored timely goals en route to the boys and girls ‘orange ball’ championships for highschool athletics.

In the Girls ‘A’ tournament, St. Basils College captured the title with a 5-1 victory over the defending champions from Leaside.  The ‘B’ division had a couple of new teams competing for the title and the game would Frontenac score a 3-1 win over St. Joseph’s.

The boy’s final would see two familiar foes as Banting Memorial played Penetanguishene for the second year in a row.  Coming off the high of the semi final win, the Penetanguishene boys raced out to a 1-0 first period lead and Banting Memorial played catch up for most of the game, but tied the game late in the first period.  The game would ultimately be decided with nine minutes to play in the second period with Banting Memorial’s Alex Mohr scoring the go ahead goal.

However, what will be remembered as the moment of the tournament actually occurred during the final round robin boy's game between Frontenac and St. Basils College.

What we all want in life is a shot, but what we do with it is the story we all want to tell.  There have been many moments and stories we have shared, but never have many experienced the emotional high of what occurred in the final round robin game in the boy’s ‘A’ tournament.

What happened for Ryan Alport (a.k.a. Snipes) is more about a chance to play than the sport itself.  He has lived with down syndrome, but like the other kids out there he just plays ball hockey.  

With 1:13 remaining in the game it was just about the opportunity to play, Coach Kenney looked to the end of the bench and asked him to enter the game.   With the Frontenac team cheering he would race in between the pipes and prepare for the game.  The teams would go up and down the floor for the balance of the game, but everyone in the arena knew this was a special moment. 

No one was ready for what was to occur with eight seconds left in the game as the St. Basil player won the faceoff and proceeded over the blue line and took a shot on net which was saved by Alport.  As the game ended, not only his teammates, but every member of the St. Basils team and the girls Frontenac team watching from the stands rushed onto the floor to congratulate this young man for this moment in time. 

What we all want in life is a shot and thanks to the Frontanec and St. Basils coaching staffs and players it was this young man’s shot and we can talk about forever and never forget.

Please see the game by game results attached.

Congratulations to all of the tournament administrators, officials, the teams and their coaches along with the fans and parents that joined us in attendance who again made the Highschool Tournament event a huge success.