Panthers seize momentum in girls’ hockey; other squads seek bounce-backs

George Le Gresley

Sports Correspondent

Boys Basketball

Last Tuesday, the Junior and Senior Sides travelled to Assumption College, and both teams lost their games. Leading scorers for the Junior Panthers were Blake Cruikshank with 13 points and Calvin Passos and Sawyer Head each with 4 Points. For the senior side, Canaan Sherbino, Nathan Brewster, and Elliott Schiedel were the leading scorers.

On Thursday, the teams travelled to Caledonia to meet the McKinnon Park Blue Devils, and both the Juniors and Seniors lost their matchups. Leading scorers for the Juniors were Blake Cruikshank and Calvin Passos.

Girls Volleyball

The Panther teams welcomed Assumption College to their home court last Tuesday, with the Junior side being swept 3-0. The Senior Panthers put out a good effort, winning the first game 25-23 and the second game 25-20, ending with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Assumption came back to win the next two games, tying up the series and moving into a 15-point tiebreaker game. In the end, the Panthers lost the game 15-11 and the match 3-2.

Boys Hockey

After a big win over Holy Trinity last week, the team travelled to the Lions’ Park Arena to face the Assumption side. The Lions started by spending a lot of time on the Panthers' side, finally scoring the opening goal, and the period ended 1-0.

A minute and 15 seconds into the second period, Panther Keith McRuer ties the game on assists from Jackson Birey and Jack Ward. Paris goalie Ethan Sickle was busy in the net, and with a mad scramble in front of the net, the Lions got the puck into the net to take back a 2-1 lead at the end of the second period.

Assumption scored early in the third period, after he snuck behind the Paris defenders, stretching their lead to 3-1. The Panthers struck back in the fourth minute, when Keith McRuer scores. Jack Ward and Jacob Woloshin assisted, with the Panthers trailing 3-2. Two minutes later, Logan Sinclair ties the game at 3-3. The game ended tied at 3-3, with outstanding play in net by goalie Ethan Sikle, who, after the game, credited his team and a goalpost to keeping this game tied.

Girls Hockey

Last year, the Panther girls' hockey team had a great run to the AABNH finals and is hoping to meet and exceed last year’s goals. They opened up their season last Wednesday against the North Park Trojans, who had a very short bench. Two minutes into the game surprisingly opened the scoring to take a 1-0 lead. From that point, it was all Panthers starting at the five-minute mark with a goal off Raegan Charter’s stick with an assist credited to Dani Seibert. Raegan didn’t stop her goal production as she scored two more goals to get a hat trick. Assists on her second goal were awarded to Alyssa Oakes, and on her third goal to Harley Shuart. Next to score for Paris was Harley Shuart, who potted two more goals, ending the first period with a 5-1 lead. Assisting on Shuart’s first goal were Alyssa Oakes and Dani Seibert, and on the second goal, Rowan Worrall and Dani Seibert.

The second period opening goal was by North Park, followed by a power play goal by Lily Goodyear, assisted by Taylor Drinkle. After two periods, the score was Paris 6 and North Park 2.

In the third period, the two teams each scored a goal, giving the Panthers a 7-3 win. Scoring the final Panther goal off the stick of Lily Goodyear, assisted by Raegan Charter and Alyssa Oakes.

Harley Shuart, a grade 12 student veteran of this team, feels that the group is playing well, with steady goaltending from Kenzie Coates, the winning goalie, and Brooklyn Boer. The goal, as always, is to play one game at a time all the way to the AABHN final.

Girls Volleyball

McKinnon Park had come to town to play the Panthers, and that Grinch definitely delivered the coal to the Junior side, who lost the match in three straight games.

For the Seniors, it was a loss: they lost the match 3-1. The team has to work on getting points on their serves to be more successful. Last Tuesday, the Panthers' Junior and Senior sides welcomed the Assumption College squads. The Juniors suffered a loss, while the Seniors took the opposition to a five-game set, losing 3-2.