Photo Courtesy: Mike Henson - London Free Press

GOJHL West Playoffs

(2) London Nationals vs. (5) LaSalle Vipers

The London National lead the LaSalle Vipers 2-1 in the GOJHL West semi-finals.

After the Nationals dominated Game #1 of the series 6-2 on home ice, the Vipers responded on Friday night in Game #2 with a 3-2 overtime win. Stephane Jeffers opened the scoring for LaSalle early in the first period, but London would find the equalizer later on in the frame from John Castle. Max Vinogradov scored his fourth goal of the playoffs in the second period to give the Nationals a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes. Less than three minutes into the third, Abdul Abouzeeni tied the game yet again, sending the game into overtime. Three minutes into the extra frame, AJ Ryan scored his second goal of the playoffs to even the series at one game apiece.

Game #2 was played on Saturday evening back in London and saw the Nats come away with a 2-1 win. All three of the game’s goals came in a four-minute span in the second period. Wes Dobbin opened the scoring for London, before Giancula Pizzuto tied it up for LaSalle. Less than 60 seconds later, on a powerplay. George Diaco scored his second goal of the playoffs, which would hold as the game-winner.

Game #4 of the series will be played in LaSalle on Tuesday evening, with the series shifting back to London on Wednesday evening for Game #5.

(1) Leamington Flyers vs. (6) Komoka Kings

The Komoka Kings have jumped out to a 2-1 series lead over the Leamington Flyers.

After suffering a 4-0 loss in Game #1 of the series, the Kings have rattled off two consecutive 3-2 wins to take control of the series. Game #2 was played on Saturday evening in Komoka, and actually saw the Kings fall behind 2-0 early in the first period. Ryan McAllister and Kurt Watson would score for Komoka to tie the game 2-2 after the first 20 minutes. Just 12 seconds into the second period, Spencer Lapointe scored a powerplay goal for the Kings to give them a 3-2 lead. Owen Say would stop 25 out of 27 shots in the cage for Komoka to preserve the win to tie the series at one game apiece.

Game #3 went the next night back in Leamington. The Flyers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead for the third time in the series with goals from Dylan Weston and Brett Postula. Komoka would score one goal before the end of the first period off the stick of Blake McConnell-Barker to go into the first intermission trailing 2-1. Cameron Welch would then score two goals less than three minutes apart in the second period to give Komoka the 3-2 lead. Owen Say was much busier between the pipes, stopping 40 of Leamington’s 42 shots they directed on goal. Joel Mazzilli has quietly been dominant for the Kings so far in the playoffs scoring three goals and nine assists in eight games, with four of those points coming against Leamington in their semi-final series. Mazzilli is tied for James Turner of the Nationals for the conference playoff scoring race.

Game #4 of the series will be played on Tuesday night in Komoka, with the series shifting back to Leamington on Thursday for Game #5.

NBL Basketball – London Lightning

The London Lightning now sit atop the NBL Central division despite suffering a loss to the KW Titans on Saturday evening, 129-125. The Lightning had a strong first half of the game, going into the halftime break leading 60-58. The Titans would then drop a staggering 45 points in the third quarter—a deficit that proved to be too large to overcome for the Lightning. KW were led by Akeem Ellis who had 23 points and 10 rebounds, with three other Titans players reaching the 20-point mark. Maurice Bolden had a double-double for London, scoring 20 points on 5-9 shooting and 10 rebounds. Jaylen Babb-Harrison dropped a team-high 24 points off the bench for the Lightning as well. The loss didn’t stop the Lightning from occupying the top spot in the division, with the St. John’s Edge losing their last two games to fall a half-game back of the Lightning. London has just three games left in their regular season: one in Sudbury, then a home-and-home with Windsor to close out the regular season. The London Lightning are back-to-back NBL Champions.