In some years, at the NOSSA level, Sudbury might dominate in boys basketball while giving way to North Bay in girls volleyball. At other times, the opposite might hold true, as boys basketball bragging rights fall the way of Sault Ste Marie while the nickel city excels in volleyball.
The beauty of February of 2026, from a SDSSAA perpsectives, lies in the current strength across the board. Local teams claimed four of the city senior NOSSA banners up for grabs on the courts these past few days, with the Espanola Spartans adding a senior boys “A” basketball title to the mix as well.
After battling through a city final encounter that stayed closer than some might have expected, the Lo-Ellen Park Knights senior boys basketball team put together a performance in Sault Ste Marie last week that sets them up nicely for OFSAA.
Dominant wins over St Mary’s (76-35), Elliot Lake (102-32) and Chippewa (79-49) gave way to an all-Sudbury final, with Lo-Ellen defeating the Lasalle Lancers 76-51, breaking a close game wide open thanks to a 23-8 run in the third quarter.
“Our defense, especially our on ball defense, was really good,” noted 18 year old team veteran Hunter Laplante, one of five grade 13 soon-to-be graduates on the team (with Will Church, Brayden Legendre, Quin Mazzuchin and Keelan Donnelly). “We’ve been working a lot this week with different looks, with our over and drop defense and our blitz defense, as well as different switches.”
Still not 100% healthy, Mazzuchin returned to the lineup, contributing 19 points in the final, with Laplante adding 16 and Noah Skrobot one back at 15. “Our ball movement was also really good,” said Laplante. “When we work as a team and swing that one extra pass, we can get so many different looks.”
“Our percentages skyrocket with every extra pass we make.”
Lo-Ellen Park Knights: Quin Mazzuchin; Will Church; Yug Patel; Kobi Elendu; Narayan Shukla; Brayden Legendre; Alexzander Stafford-Snow; Keelan Donnelly; Noah Skrobot; Ethan Farrugia; Adrian Aho; Hunter Laplante; coaches Mac Bertrand; Carter Benson; Patrick Thom, Mark Thom
Despite the setback in the gold medal affair, the Lasalle Lancers will still represent NOSSA at the OFSAA “AAA” playdowns in London, with head coach Darcey Shallow and company coming off a very solid 6-1 regular season schedule in addition to chalking up tournament wins at the Mitch Lalonde Memorial Tournament in Sudbury and the Knights Winter Classic in Sault Ste Marie.
Lasalle Lancers: Dash Kamal; Logan Akkanen; Christian Wreegbo; Ryder Hewlett; Deran Cooper; Alazar Stevens; Jude St. Michael-Leblanc; Nicho Simmons; Owen O’Leary; Lunden Campbell-Runia; Rashaun Asare-Corbiere; Dylan Bates; coach Darcey Shallow
The Espanola Spartans will make their way to Timmins by virtue of a 61-52 win in the final over the White Pines Wolverines, with Mike Brohart (20), Gideon Jacques (12) and Carter McLennan (9) accounting for more than half of the offense.
Espanola Spartans: Arlo Byers; Liam Leclair; Carter McLennan; JC Paquette; Ethan Leblanc; Tecumseh Paibomsai; Clayton Lagrandeur; Judah Brohart; Gideon Jacques; Mike Brohart; Liam Houle; coaches Tim Greenough; Josh Brohart; Jason Jacques
The Hanmer Sabres took full advantage of hosting the NOSSA "B" playdowns, knocking off the Champlain Requins 66-35 in the final.
Hanmer Sabres: Mika Giroux, Ayden Courtemanche, Shawn Chiasson, Raymond Gascon, Jeremy Babe-Lavoie, Samuel Aubin, Simon Riutta, Xavier Frappier, junior call-ups Alexi Frappier, Mathieu Hamilton, Leland Daviau, coach Steve Cotnoir
The Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes juniors also served notice that they will move into the ranks of senior contenders, beginning next year, after reeling off four straight wins in Sault Ste Marie to capture the NOSSA “A” junior banner. Wins over Algonquin (68-29) and White Pines (61-45) gave way to a 79-36 triumph over the Elliot Lake Atoms.
Notre-Dame Alouettes: Ethan Adou, Roland Bostrom, Carson Cook, Roman D'Aoust, Hudson Dennison, Liam Hagen, Samuel Niyonkuru, Kaleb Parent, Noah Sabourin, Eden Yedess, Thomas Deredin, Angelo Kalonji, head coach Martin Nadeau and assistant coach Logan MacIntyre.
Led by a one-two punch of Seamus Murphy (72 pts in final three games) and Al-Amin Adeoti (46), the Lasalle Lancers were victorious in every outing in Sault Ste Marie, defeating Korah, Espanola, St Mary's and the St Benedict Bears (63-56), returning with another banner for the gymnasium of the Black & Orange.
Lasalle Lancers: Kane Flood, Seamus Murphy, William MacLeod, Fred Becker, Josh Sellen, Jake Crawford, Wally Sherman, Devin Wreegbo, Cael Manella, Zayden Contois, Al-Amin Adeoti, coaches Kyle Preseau and Darcey Shallow
