HAPPY HOLIDAYS FOR SAULT COLLEGE MEN

It's the holiday season and the men's basketball team at Sault College is where it wants to be. With a record of 4-2, the Cougars are one of five teams contending for the lead within the seven-member West Region of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association. The OCAA campaign is on hiatus until the New Year and the Cougars have completed exactly half of their regular-season schedule. In fact, the Sault, Fanshawe and Algoma University are the only three teams in the West Region who are at the midway point. Sault College has a 4-2 record, Niagara and St. Clair are both 3-1, Fanshawe is 3-3, Lambton is 2-1, Redeemer is 1-4 and Algoma is 1-5. "This is about where I expected we'd be at this point," said Thomas Cory, first-year head coach of the Cougars. "We could easily be 6-0 -- our two losses were by a total of four points -- but there are a number of good teams in our Region and I'm happy with our play to date." Cory has done an excellent job of keeping his talent-deep roster content by ensuring that players know their roles. He's also good at having polar opposites complement one another. For example, the quiet, reserved Tim Walker has meshed well with the flashy, flamboyant Tim Higgins on the court. Same with locally developed rookies Ron Kelly (Bawating) and Jeff Rennison (Korah). Rennison is as mellow as Kelly is combustible but the two former high school stars have brought their own game and their own dimension to the Cougars. Higgins is one of a number of out-of-town products who have contributed in a huge way to the success of the Cougars thus far. The Boise, Idaho native has a showboat routine that some view as arrogance but there's no questioning his determination. One-time Greater Toronto Area high school standouts Sean Seivwright, Ray Henry and Reynord Bobb have also brought a combo platter of skill, desire and passion to the team and Amherst, Nova Scotia native Nathan Whalen has been impressive as a ball handler. Higgins, Seivwright, Henry, Bobb and Whalen are all OCAA rookies. It's the local talent that has provided a base for the Cougars' success, however. Walker (St. Basil). Robbie Green (Sir James Dunn) and Chris Muncaster (Bawating) are all holdovers from the Sault College team that went 9-3 under the direction of former coach Donny Muto in making it to the OCAA provincials last season. As pure a shooter as there is in the West Region, Green leads the Cougars with 14 three-pointers, despite the fact that he's played in only five of their six OCAA games and has been nursing a broken finger for much of the season. In fact, the Cougars as a team have hit for 37 treys in their six OCAA games and Green has 14 of them. Deep in talent despite the presence of so many rookies, Sault College has six players averaging at least 9.0 points per game. There's Seivwright at 20.3, Walker at 16.8, Green at 15.8, Higgins at 11.2, Henry at 9.3 and Kelly at 9.0. "That's what I like about our team," Cory noted. "If one player is shut down another will step up." The Cougars will also get a boost in the new year with the addition of 6-foot-7 post Ryan Court, a local product who is back at Sault College after being away from school and the game for a few years. Court, who has athleticism to go with size, should take some of the rebounding and inside pressure off of the 6-foot-4 Walker, who has played much bigger than his actual size this season.