Francis Commey, Sports Reporter
The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough for sports teams, players and fans.
The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) cancelled the 2020 National men’s basketball medal tournament that was to have begun at Humber earlier this month because of the deadly pandemic.
Emergency measures have also forced the closures of schools, businesses and restricted gatherings of crowds.
Although the disappointment of not competing for a national title is palatable, the Number 10 ranked Humber men’s basketball team didn’t finish the regular season without anything to show. They won silver at the OCAA championships after losing in the finals against the Number 9 ranked George Brown Huskies.
“We won silver and we weren’t satisfied but we’re hoping to redeem ourselves at nationals but that obviously got cancelled,” rookie guard Shae Phillips told Et Cetera. “We got silver and that’s just not good enough, it sucks but we’ll go and get gold next year.”
The Humber Hawks struggled throughout most of the game against Ontario’s best defence defensive team the George Brown Huskies. A game where the Hawks were playing from behind most of the game ultimately led them to finish the year with the silver medal.
“We had a good year, I’m proud of the team but we’re disappointed we didn’t get a chance to finish the year competing at home for nationals,” assistant coach Chad Bewley said.
“It’s how things go sometimes but hopefully we’re in a position to win gold at the OCAA playoffs and nationals next year”, he said.
The women’s team wasn’t invited to the women’s Nationals after an upset loss to the St. Clair Saints. They settled for a bronze medal at the women’s OCAA basketball championships in Windsor on March 8.
“Honestly, I felt like as a team we performed well, although we didn’t get the medal we wanted we still didn’t go home empty-handed,” third-year guard Brittney English told Et Cetera.
“There were a few moments where our performance was questionable, but then again the team was basically rebuilt (after) having a lot of seniors leaving from the previous year,” she said.
There may be disappointed players but they both medalled while being among the best teams in all of Ontario this year.
“I think we could’ve done better but I’m not happy about where we placed but it’s motivation for next year,” said rookie shooting guard Kia Watt.
