NOSSA Recap: Volleyball finals open busy period (8 photos)

A string of Northern Ontario Secondary School Association (NOSSA) events locally kicked off on Thursday night as Superior Heights played host to the girls volleyball event.

The host Superior Heights Steelhawks advanced to the finals at both the junior and senior levels.

In junior action, Superior Heights dropped a straight-sets decision to Lasalle Secondary School of Sudbury. Lasalle took the opening set 25-20 before narrowly taking the second set by a 25-22 margin.

In the senior final, Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School of Sudbury beat Superior Heights in three sets.

Lo-Ellen took the opening set 25-16. After trading points throughout the second set, Lo-Ellen took a two-set lead by winning the second set 29-27. After falling behind 8-1 in the third set, Lo-Ellen battled back to win the set 25-16 to take the NOSSA title.

This weekend will see more NOSSA action locally as boys basketball opens up on Friday evening. Superior Heights and St. Mary’s will represent Sault Ste. Marie and host games at each school.

AAA NOSSA basketball opens on Friday night at both the junior and senior levels. The junior games begin at 6 p.m. with the senior games set for 7:30  p.m. Semi-final action begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday at both Superior Heights and St. Mary’s while the junior final begins at 1:30 and the senior final at 3 p.m. Both championship games will be at Superior Heights.

High school hockey playoffs are continuing locally as the semi-finals have completed.

On Thursday, St. Mary’s capped off a two-game sweep of the CASS Huskies with a 5-1 win. Erik Paradis had two goals and an assist to pace St. Mary’s offensively. Mitchel Robinson also scored a pair of goals for the Knights. Mike Fabbro also scored. Alex Hansen had the lone goal for CASS.

The other semi-final series also wrapped up on Thursday at St. Basil beat Superior Heights 5-0 to cap off the sweep. David Snedden picked up the shutout for St. Basil while Josh Fisher had a pair of goals. Matthew Ferlaino, Mike Cicchelli and Anthony Biocchi also scored for St. Basil.

The league final, which is a best-of-five series, will begin on Sunday night in a 7 p.m. start at the Essar Centre. Game two is Monday at 3:30 p.m. at the John Rhodes Community Centre. AA NOSSA is set for Sault Ste. Marie beginning on Mar. 2.

(PHOTO: Superior Heights players embrace immediately after losing the NOSSA senior girls volleyball final to Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School on February 19, 2015 at Superior Heights Secondary School in Sault Ste. Marie. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)