Local basketball notebook

MaryLynn Turk, coach of the Girls Bantam Development Program (BDP) team, will be holding tryouts on June 4 from 9:00 am to 11:30 am at St. Basil's Secondary School.

This tryout will be for all girls under the age of 13 as of Jan. 1, 2006. Final team tryouts will be in Sudbury on the weekend of Jun. 17 and 18th.

Check the OBA website at www.basketball.on.ca for further information.

*** COUGAR TRYOUTS:

The Cougar Basketball grade 9 and 10 girls team tryouts, for girls currently in grade 8 and 9, for 2006/2007 season will be held June 27 and 28 at St. Basil.

There is no cost for the tryouts but a deposit will be collected when the team is picked. Contact head coach Danielle Marchand at [email protected] or 255-0955 or president Thomas Cory at [email protected] or 942-2145.

*** SUMMER BASKETBALL CAMP:

Registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis for girls basketball camps to be held during the month of July.

There will be two separate camps -- for girls going into grades 7 and 8 and girls going into grades 9 and 10. The camp for grade 7-8 girls will be held July 4-7 and July 11-14 from 10 a.m. - noon each day at a cost of $40 per player. The camp for grade 9-10 girls will be held July 18-21 and July 25-28 from 10 a.m. - noon each day at a cost of $40 per player.

Instructors will include former high school players Jocelyne Doucet and Cara Russon. To register or for further information call camp director Randy Russon at 759-1599.

*** JUVENILE COUGARS AT OBA:

The Cougars started their pool play in division 6 by opening up against the Whitby Wildcats. The Cougars played a tough game only to come up short 45-43. Nick DiDonato led the team with 10 points and Mike Weimer added 8 in the loss.

Due to the opening round loss, the Cougars were forced to win their next two games in order to move on to the quarter finals and that they did that by pounding Blessed Sacrament #4 60-15. DiDonato again did damage with 18 points to lead the Cougars while Chris Casagrande added 14.

In the next must win game the Cougars played their best game of the tournament beating St. Mary's from Mississauga 43-35. Nick DiDonato and Mike Weimer both had 17 points to lead the Cougars to victory.

The win clinched 1st place in the Division and a Quarterfinal match up against the York Region Avengers. In this contest the Cougars just could not get anything going and had a hard time hitting open shots from outside. The Cougars found a way to compete, playing extremely hard throughout the contest but dropped a tight affair 43-40. Mike DiDonato had 11 points and Kevin McEachern chipped in with 9 points.

According to Head Coach Donny Muto, "This was an extremely difficult loss to accept because our team goal was to win the gold medal. It is difficult to win any game when shooting 25% from the field" added Coach Muto. "Our execution throughout the game was excellent. We got the shots we wanted but we were not able to get anything going offensively."

Coach Muto thanked his players for their hard work and dedication throughout the year and looks forward to next season.

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