NEWS RELEASE
TWIN LAKES SECONDARY SCHOOL
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This week, within a 48-hour span, three teams from Twin Lakes Secondary School won Simcoe County Athletic Association (SCAA) championship banners while two teams and two athletes won Georgian Bay championships and qualified for OFSAA.
Senior girls volleyball
The Lady Thunderbirds had a perfect volleyball season.
League play saw the seniors with a league record of 7-0, pre-playoffs a record of 2-0 and on Tuesday, the squad won again to capture the SCAA banner to a home crowd in an exciting game.
This highly skilled team plays with power and finesse. They support each other and have fun playing. We are captained by left-side attacker Gracie Yakeley (Grade 11), who was the Twin Lakes athlete of the month for January and leads our offence with outstanding hits. Other strong arms of offence include middle attacker Chloe Pallister (Grade 12) and right-side attacker Lauren LeDrew (Grade 10). The starting lineup is rounded out by Layla Jones-Ward (setter), Paige Baxter (middle) and left-sides Elle Waite (Grade 11) and Morgan French (Grade 11).
The next stop for the Lady Thunderbirds is the GBSSA tournament on Feb. 23 in Huntsville, where they will vie for a bid to compete at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association (OFSAA) provincial championship.
Team members include Cassie Donnelly, Paige Baxter, Lauren LeDrew, Gracie Yakeley, Georgia Sisson-Hogarth, Morgan Ffrench, Elle Waite, Kristen Paugh, Sam Gardiner (coach), Chloe Pallister, Syndey Stones, Ashlyn Bourne, Madison Korzenewski, Layla Jones-Ward and Emma Langman.
Junior boys basketball
With only two returning players and zero current club basketball players the Twin Lakes junior boys basketball team was not expected to win much this year. However, this squad demonstrated their grit, poise, athleticism and determination and willed their way to the SCAA finals after beating Nottawasaga Pines in the SCAA semifinal on Monday.
On Wednesday, Feb. 15 the Twin Lakes junior boys basketball team travelled to Midland to face the mighty Georgian Bay District Bears in the SCAA finals. Despite a loss to GBD earlier in the season, the boys were keen for revenge. The game was physical and high octane from start to finish.
Led by team captain Ethan Haley, who scored a game-high 22 points, Twin managed to beat a strong GBD by 24 points to win the SCAA AA championship. The juniors are now off to the GBSSA finals next week in Huntsville. Coaches Andrew Corry and Jake Buchan are very proud of their commitment and accomplishments this season.
Team members include No. 5 Garret DeCaire, No. 10 Jacob Hazel, No. 11 Ethan Haley, No. 12 Brayden Riddle, No. 21 Luke Smith, No. 22 Nate Pole, No. 30 Ryan Boyle, No. 32 Jake Duffy, No. 33 Kirk Gillan, No. 34 Jacob Scharf and No. 42 Hudson Bown.
Boys curling
The undefeated Twin Lakes boys curling team is heading to the GBSSA finals after defeating Eastview 16-0 in the semis. With this win, the Thunderbirds secured a berth at OFSAA but would like to finish the GB finals as champions. The GB match will take place next Tuesday, Feb 21 in Stroud versus Nantyr Shores. OFSAA curling will take place from March 22 to 25 in North Bay. Team members are Joey Szijarto, Jackson Bigelow, Richard Jones, Cole O’Connor and Ben Brown.
Wrestling
The Twin Lakes wrestling team has had a very good season.
Determination and practice have paid off. Hard work and dedication have proved their worth for our athletes. At our recent Georgian Bay championships (Feb. 15), there were a lot of hard-fought matches with great success and personal bests from everyone. As a result, we will have four wrestlers representing Twin Lakes in the upcoming OFSAA tournament in Ottawa (March 6 to 8). Congratulations to Dan Swift (third), Jenna Imbeau (second), Kaden Zytkewich (first) and Trent Sweet (first) on earning a spot to compete at the provincial level.
Senior boys basketball
Fans were treated to a real nail biter in the SCAA senior boys basketball championship. Twin Lakes renewed rivalries with Nottawasaga Pines after defeating them with a buzzer beater in regular-season play. The game did not disappoint, with many lead changes. Twin Lakes found themselves down by five points with three minutes to play, but incredible team defence and timely shooting allowed the Thunderbirds to come away with a 53-48 victory. The team is off to the GBSSA championships next week in Huntsville.
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