Saint Michael’s hoops heart and soul

By Bernie Puchalski - October 17, 2018

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Julie Manlow (11) is the heart and soul of the Saint Michael’s senior girls basketball team.

A one-minute span in the fourth quarter of a game Wednesday versus the Saint Paul Patriots showed the value of Julie Manlow to the Saint Michael Mustangs senior girls basketball team.

With her team trailing the Patriots 50-46 with less than three minutes left in the game, the Grade 12 student drove to the basket and passed to teammate Aliyah Glaze for a wide-open three to make the score 50-49. The 17-year-old did the same thing on the next possession and Glaze hit a two-pointer to give her team a 51-50 advantage. Manlow then stole the ball from a Saint Paul player on the next possession and made a layup to give her team a 53-50 lead. She then proceeded to steal the ball on Saint Paul’s next three possessions and hit a free throw to give her team a 54-50. Following a wild finish, the Mustangs escaped with a 57-56 in Niagara Catholic Athletic Association play.

NIAGARA CATHOLIC 2017 GRADUATION RATE

SECOND HIGHEST IN ONTARIO’S ENGLISH-LANGUAGE SCHOOL BOARDS FOR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR

The Ontario Ministry of Education has released the 2017 graduation rates for all publicly funded schools in Ontario. For the fourth consecutive year, Niagara Catholic’s four-year graduation rate of 91.3 per cent has placed second among the 57 English-language school boards in Ontario. Niagara Catholic was sixth out of all 72 Ontario school boards. Niagara Catholic’s five-year graduation rate of 93.2 per cent places the Board third among all English-language District School Boards, and sixth among all 72 Ontario school boards.

The Board’s four-year graduation rate is the 13.3 per cent above provincial averages of 79.8 per cent, and 4.8 per cent above the provincial rate of 86.3 per cent for students who took five years to complete the required number of credits to receive their Ontario Secondary School Graduation Diploma.

Niagara Catholic’s outstanding graduation rates fulfill a strategy laid out in the Board’s Vision 2020 Strategic Plan to consistently exceed the Ministry of Education’s goal of a province-wide graduation rate of 85 per cent. This multi-year trend of top-percentile performance is evidence of the leadership, support and contributions of our Board, staff and partners in Catholic education, which we celebrate every day.

September: Month in Review

Saint Michael Seniors beat Reds 20-0

By Bernie Puchalski - September 27, 2018

BP Sports Picture Football coaches are loathe to take any pleasure in moral victories, but Denis Morris senior coach Antony Volante was feeling a little better about his squad even though it fell 20-0 to the visiting Saint Michael Mustangs Thursday in Niagara Catholic Athletic Association action. His team trailed only 7-0 at the half and gave up two scores in the fourth quarter in what was a closer game than the final score indicated. It was a much better performance for the Reds compared to their 43-2 shellacking last week at the hands of the Blessed Trinity Thunder.

“We had a good week of practice and the boys came in and played hard until the end and that is what we are looking for,” Volante said. “We want to play every down to the best our ability and go from there.” Volante felt the biggest difference compared to last week was having played that one game. “Even though it didn’t go the way we wanted it to go, the organization and the extra week of practice helped us get more prepared,” he said. “Saint Mike’s is a great team and they made a couple of plays and we didn’t. “I think we had a good fighting chance in that game and we didn’t pull it out.”

Mustangs QB sparks team

By Bernie Puchalski

- September 21, 2018

Saint Michael’s senior football quarterback Zack Keldson didn’t look like he was playing his first regular season game of 2018 Friday.

The 12B student turned in a mistake-free performance to spark the visiting Mustangs to a 23-3 victory over the Lakeshore Catholic Gators in Niagara Catholic Athletic Association play.

Keldson had two long runs for first downs and a 57-yard TD pass to Riley Hart to lead the team’s offence.

“There’s a lot of things I like about Zack,” Saint Michael head coach Keith Bomberry said. “I have coached him for five years and he makes good decisions, especially in this game, holding the ball and not forcing it.

“He throws the ball well and he is really getting a hang of the read option game.”

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