The luck of the Irish prevailed Sunday as the morning rain ceased just in time for the 23rd annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Toronto.

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Using colourful Post-It notes, Rafi Ghanaghounian and his friends spent an evening at his apartment writing funny messages to each other.

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A missed free throw in the last two seconds gave defending champions Sir Wilfrid Laurier Blue Devils a nail-biting victory over their rivals West Hill Warriors in the East Region Senior Boys Tier One basketball final on Feb. 11 at Seneca College.

It was an extremely close game throughout, with no team leading by more than 10 points at any given time. Thirty-seven seconds left on the clock, Laurier sank a game-changing basket to tie West Hill with 51 points.

The score tied at 51, Laurier made a two-point basket to give them a two point lead with four seconds left to go in the fourth quarter.

With just 2.1 seconds on the clock, Laurier fouled West Hill, resulting in two free throws and giving the Warriors an opportunity to tie the game.

But the Warriors sank only one, letting the Blue Devils narrowly win the East region championship 53-52.

“I’m happy, but it’s more of a relief,” Laurier head coach Tony Vallejo said. “We were expected to repeat, and we were able to accomplish it. We had a lot of teams gearing to knock us down.”

The two teams played each other twice this year, once during regular season and once during a tournament the weekend of Feb. 5. Laurier came out on top both times.

The Blue Devils finished the season at the top of the Eastern Region standings with a perfect record of 10-0. The West Hill Warriors came second, finishing 8-2.

With the win, Sir Wilfrid Laurier advanced to the city championship and was to host Earl Haig for their quarter-final match on Feb. 18. Earl Haig finished first in the North/East region with a record of 6-3.

The two first place teams in the Toronto School Board’s Varsity Boys Indoor Soccer East Region’s divisions; the East York Goliaths, and the Victoria Park Panthers, faced off in the championship game on Mar. 3 at the Metro Sports Centre.

The first half of the match produced three goals and a score of 2-1 in favour of the Goliaths. In the second half, the East York were able to increase their lead and stop the Panthers from scoring again – with the game ending 5-1.

“It feels good; it’s always nice to win a championship,” East York coach Tom Drivas said. “They deserve it – they’ve been together now since September and they worked hard – so I’m glad for them.”

The Goliaths cohesiveness was demonstrated not just by the number of goals they were able to score – but that each point was scored by a different member of the team.

Both teams were undefeated going into the match. East York finished regulation play at the top of Group B with a perfect season of 8-0-0. Victoria Park placed first in Group A, with an undefeated record of 6-0-1.

“We have a good bunch of guys, a good bunch of players on the team, and they play well together,” Victoria Park coach Nick Vretanos said before the game. His team will have the opportunity to compete for the gold next year, since all but one of the players will be returning.

“We’re a really young team; there’s only one graduating student, who’s the captain. He’s the leader,” Vretanos said. “I hope he’ll keep everybody together … and keep them high when they are low.”

After a decisive 6-0 victory over the Bendale Tigers on Feb. 17, the RH King Academy Lions will go on to the TDSB East Region B Division hockey championship.

The game was lively and fast-paced, with quick turnovers and a handful of odd-man rushes. The Lions, who faced a depleted Tiger team, scored two goals in each of the three periods of play. Bendale played the entire game with only nine players.

“Today’s mentality is to just play a strong game – to the best of our ability,” Bendale Head Coach Steve Taylor said before the match. “We know we’re playing with a short bench today, so it will be a tough game for us. But it’s hockey – and that’s what it’s all about.”

The game got feisty in the last 10 minutes, with four of the five penalties called in the third period.

“It feels great. I feel like we played a good game.” RH King Academy Assistant Coach Brian Chetwynd said. “A little bit of a circus at the end, but it feels good to be moving on [to the finals].”

The Lions finished first in their division, never having lost a game in regulation, with a record of 5-0-1. The Tigers finished the season in fifth place, with a record of 2-4.

“To finish first – we’re pretty excited,” Chetwynd said. “The guys worked hard, but we’re trying to take it one game at a time.”

The final match will be played on Feb. 24 at Centennial Arena.

The RH King Academy Lions hosted the SATEC @ WA Porter Eagles in the Toronto District School Board’s East Region Senior Boys Tier Two B Division hockey championship on Feb. 24 at Centennial Arena.

The stands were packed to the rafters with multiple busloads of screaming high school fans to watch the third place team and underdogs, the SATEC @ Porter Eagles, upset the first place King Academy Lions for a triumphant 4-1 gold medal victory.

“It’s great – we were the underdogs!” SATEC @ Porter assistant Coach Carl Mah said. “The kids were very disciplined. They did exactly what we told them to do. And we capitalized on our chances.”

The Eagles coaches agreed that their boys’ discipline and ability to listen to instruction is what won them the game.

“Team play and disciplined play were the reasons our boys were successful,” Eagles head coach Joel Gardner said. “Even though there were a couple of infractions, they didn’t get frustrated. They played their positions great, they skated hard, it’s kind of cliché, but that’s the way the games are won and lost.”

The first period was scoreless, with both teams getting robbed by the goalies on both ends of the ice. The second period ended the shutouts, and saw only one goal, by Eagles assistant captain Jake Stroscher, #24.

The third period saw lots of action, with tempers flaring; hard hits, and little scraps after the whistle – and four goals. With a man advantage King Academy’s #15, Landon McGhee, scored a goal to tie the game. Eagles #17, Stratos G. scored two goals, and #95, Julian D. scored one goal to end the game.

The two teams had played each other once in the regular season; the Eagles gave the Lions their only tie of their otherwise perfect record. The Lions finished 5-0-1, and the Eagles finished 3-1-2.

“We think that Porter’s a pretty good team,” said King Academy assistant coach Ben Posthumus. “We weren’t expecting to play them here.”

SATEC @ Porter had drawn Cedarbrae – who had beaten them 5-3 once in regular season play and had finished in second place – for the semi-final round on Feb. 17. Against the odds, they won the game 6-4.

“They were awesome; today’s game was the best game they’ve ever played. Everyone I sent out there did their job,” Gardner said. “It feels good to be champions, the boys are really pumped.”

Toronto police and road safety workers agree, cellphones, iPods and other personal electronic gadgets are distracting pedestrians to death.

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It took a lunchtime run-in with a group of neo-Nazis to provoke Judy Cohen into action. Continue Reading

The infamous East York coyote is still on the lam. Continue Reading

Public transit riders may be asked to dig deeper in their pockets if a proposed fare hike is approved by a city committee on November 17, 2009. Continue Reading