Christmas came a week early for the players on Sterling Insurance in the Thursday Night Squash League.

Heading into the holiday break, Sterling Insurance is enjoying a 17-point lead over second place Northern Lights Optometry in the league's standings.

In its final contest, the team tied Underhill 15-15, thanks to all four players recording at least one point.

"Our team is competitive and we work really hard, but we have fun and so it's not completely about winning," said Sterling Insurance player Amy Leach. "I think we just want to go out there and play our best and have fun."

Consistent play has been one of Sterling Insurance's strengths this season. After seven weeks of play, the team has recorded two 19 point performances and on three occasions they have scored 17 points.

The fewest number of points that the team scored was 15 on Thursday. Sterling Insurance also benefitted from the fact that last week's second place team the Electrical Shop had a bye on Thursday.

Individual players in the league can score a maximum of six points, including one for each game they win (best out of five), one for a match victory, one for wearing the team t-shirt and one for refereeing a match.

Sterling Insurance 15, Underhill 15

Neisha Bicudo led the way for Sterling Insurance with six points, winning her match against Will Parker in three games.

Darrin Sinclair won a marathon five-game match against Sophia Flather. Sinclair finished with five points, while Flather won a total of three points.

Leach showed a lot of persistence in her match against substitute player Kelly Panchynshyn, battling back after dropping the first two games with two wins of her own. Leach contributed three points to Sterling Insurance's overall total, while Panchynshyn won five for Underhill.

Leach ended up dropping her fifth and deciding game, but was happy with the way she battled back.

"It was nice because I thought at the start because she won the first two games I thought ‘Oh no, I am out of it in three' and then I worked hard and I tried to come back and almost made it, but not quite," Leach said. "It was encouraging that way that I didn't let being down two games to none rattle me."

She said Thursday's contest against Panchynshyn was the toughest one she has had all season.

"She was subbing for the other team, but it was probably the most challenging game that I have had so far and I really had fun," Leach said. "She made me run and she made me work for every point that I got, so she definitely deserved to win."

Mark Beese scored the remaining point for Sterling Insurance in his match against Jeanette Carney, who finished with six points.

Northern Lights Optometry 17, Uniglobe Specialty Travel 10

Patti Flather and Loralee Martin each scored six points for Northern Lights Optometry, while fellow teammate Tim Darling finished with five points.

Northern Lights Optometry is currently in second place with 108 points.

Substitute player Tyler Martin was Uniglobe Specialty Travel's leading scorer, chipping in six points.

The team's remaining three players also helped out, with Kai Knorr scoring two points, while Dee Enright and Leonard Linklater both finished with one point.

Uniglobe Specialty Travel has a lock on fifth place in the league's standings with 96 points.

Emco 17, Kumon Learning 10

Dallas Yeulett finished with six points for Emco, while fellow substitute teammates were Shari Knorr and Tara Matechuk combined for 10 points, with each player scoring five in total.

Emco trails Uniglobe Specialty Travel by just three points and is in sixth place.

Judy Ratcliffe was the leading scorer for Kumon Learning with six points, while Kathleen Froese notched two points for the team.

Beth Ellis and Nora Mooney scored the teams remaining two points.