Caledon Cougars mix it up on the courts at Ontario Cup

April 27, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte
The Ontario Cup rolls on throughout April, and so do the Caledon Cougars in establishing the organization as one of the best in provincial basketball.
Both the U13 bantam and U14 major bantam girls teams took to the court last weekend, boasting top-five finishes against the top teams in Ontario.
The U13 Cougars booked a trip to Windsor as the eighth and final seed to play in the top D1 division, playing the underdog role throughout the tournament. Opening against the fourth-seeded Windsor Valiants, the Cougars dropped a close one, followed early the next day by a loss to the first overall seed Transway White.
The tides turned for the Cougars from there, playing the spoiler to the fifth-ranked Stoney Creek Storm in their final round-robin game, winning in a close one 46-42. The win booked a spot in Sunday’s fifth place game, matching up against Transway Red.
The Cougars ran away with the victory in their highest-scoring game of the tournament, winning 47-37. It capped off a number of accolades for the 2015-16 bantam squad, who earlier in the season won silver in Newmarket’s IEM Tournament, as well as a gold in their home tournament the Caledon Cougars Classic.
At the U14 level, the Cougars travelled to Brampton over the weekend to take part in D1 of the major bantam Ontario Cup. When the dust settled, Caledon landed exactly as they entered the tournament, the fourth-ranked team in the province.
Wins over SBA-Nembhard and Timmins Basketball in the round robin had the Cougars in good shape heading into Saturday afternoon, but a loss in the final round-robin match to Markham Unionville sent Caledon to the bronze medal game. There they fell short of Sudbury Basketball for a fourth-place finish.
Sanctioned by Ontario Basketball, the Ontario Cup continues through to the end of May, with the U15 and U16 girls taking to the hardcourt this coming weekend in North Bay and Ottawa respectively.
More than 19,000 athletes and coaches from over 1,100 teams compete in the tournament across Ontario.
The Cougars will participate in the top division of the U16 tournament, entering as the number-one ranked contender.
To learn more about the Caledon Cougars program, visit www.caledoncougars.ca