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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, October 10, 2013 | 22 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor "Connected to your Community" Loyola wins battle of senior girls' basketball unbeatens The Loyola Hawks haven't been challenged too often in recent Halton senior girls' basketball league play. Tuesday at Holy Trinity, the Hawks showed how they respond when put to the test. Loyola broke open a tight game with a pair of key defensive plays in the final quarter, then held on for a 54-48 victory over the host Titans. Trinity (5-1) threatened to take the lead with three minutes remaining, down two points with the ball. But Loyola's Kiana Steinauer and Stephanie Findlay made steals on back-to-back Titans possessions, both leading to transition scores and putting the Hawks (5-0) up six. "At the end of the game in our last timeout, our coach told us we really needed to focus because the game was on the line," said Loyola's Jaelyne Kirkpatrick, who had a game-high 22 points. "At that point, it all set in." Kirkpatrick said the Hawks might have taken Trinity lightly, a surprising admission since both teams entered the game with undefeated records in league play. The schools also form one of the bigger rivalries in Halton high school sports. Then again, Loyola had won its previous two league meetings with the Titans by a combined total of 43 points. Last season, the Hawks' narrowest margin of victory in regional action was 23. And Loyola still hasn't lost a Halton league game -- regular season or playoffs -- in nearly two calendar years. "They force teams to make bad decisions, and their transition offence is absolutely killer with Kirkpatrick and (Sam) Pocrnic," Trinity coach Anthony Pugliese said. Pocrnic had 17 points for the Hawks, including several free throws in the final minutes to salt the game away. Steinauer added seven. Grade 10 student Tayania Smith led the Titans with 19 points. Jillian Condron, another Grade 10 player, had six and Delaney Hughes scored five. Pugliese was pleased with how his team, which used an 11-2 run in the second quarter to build a 25-22 halftime lead, has narrowed the gap against Loyola. "We definitely like the fact that we played them hard and they know it's not a walkthrough," said Pugliese, whose squad is 20-5 overall this season despite injuries to several key players. "We obviously have some things to work on, to change the result for the next game. We have to get through the rest of Halton, but we'd love to meet up with (Loyola) again in the playoffs or finals." In other Tier 1 action Tuesday, the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils improved to 5-2 with a 4621 win over Christ the King. White Oaks remained undefeated in Tier 2 play with a 56-27 win over Burlington Central Monday in Burlington. The Wildcats' next action is Wednesday, Oct. 16, when they are home to Acton. Tournament in memory of former coach Holy Trinity will host the first annual Giancarlo Beraldo Memorial Senior/Junior Girls' Basketball Tournament later this month in honour of the late basketball coach. The inaugural event, slated for Oct. 17-19, will feature eight senior and eight junior teams from Milton, Burlington, Kingston, Mississauga, Oakville, London, Brampton, Hamilton and Grimsby. Giancarlo (John) Beraldo coached boys' and girls' basketball in the Halton Catholic system for 27 years, including stops at Assumption, Loyola, St. Thomas Aquinas and Holy Trinity. He passed away last December. "John was a big influence in Halton and also at HT," said Holy Trinity senior girls' basketball coach Anthony Pugliese. "Dedicating a tournament to him is the least we can do... We will try to build this into one of the bigger senior/junior tournaments in Ontario." -- Jon Kuiperij can be followed on Twitter @Beaversports Loyola's Jaelyne Kirkpatrick (right) drives by Holy Trinity's Jillian Condron to take a shot during Tuesday's Halton senior girls' basketball contest at Trinity. Loyola trailed by three points at half but rallied to defeat the Titans 54-48. | photo by Nikki Wesley -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog Hornets rally for 3-3 draw in PWHL home opener Lauren Patterson scored with 2:15 to go in regulation as the Oakville intermediate AA Hornets overcame a three-goal deficit to tie the Toronto Aeros 3-3 in the Hornets' Provincial Women's Hockey League home opener Tuesday at Joshua's Creek Arenas. Oakville trailed the Aeros 3-0 midway through the game, but Jazz Kennedy scored in the second period and Jennifer MacAskill added a shorthanded marker with 5:46 left in the third. Patterson's equalizer came on an Oakville powerplay. Stephanie Loukes made 34 stops in net for the Hornets, who are now 0-1-2 on the season. Toronto, which entered this season with just 18 regulation-time losses in its last 142 league games, is 2-0-2. Oakville will visit the Aeros Tuesday, Oct. 10. The Hornets' next home game is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 18, an 8:30 p.m. clash with the Bluewater Hawks at Joshua's Creek. Oakville Hornets player Cassidy MacPherson is checked by Toronto Aeros opponent Jessie Eldridge Tuesday at Joshua's Creek Arenas. | photo by Michael Ivanin -- Special to the Beaver