In the opening round, held in Chatham: …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Ottawa Lester B. Pearson Panthers defeated St. Catharines Sir Winston Churchill Secondary Bulldogs 73-47 as Ted Lawrence scored 21 and Curtis Houlden 13. Brad Bowman led the Bulldogs with 14. Craig Kirkham added 11 and Mike Stuart 9. Bulldogs coach Fred Reynolds told the St. Catharines Standard that “we stayed closed for the first half. We had a lapse of about three or four minutes in the third quarter and they really turned up the tempo.” …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Belleville Nicholson Crusaders crushed the Smith Falls Red Hawks 49-33 as Leltaer scored 19. Whitney led the Red Hawks with 8. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Chatham John McGregor Panthers crushed the Orillia District Blues 69-53 as Scott Dunlop scored 31. Waite led the Blues with 12. …………………………………………………… The Thunder Bay Port Arthur Redmen clipped the Owen Sound West Hill Raiders 56-40 as Burns scored 21. Port Arthur led 17-10, 36-21 and 43-33 at the quarters. Mark Hopkins led the Raiders with 14. Chuck Brown added 9, Ryan Yeo 6, Chris Webber 6, Jayson Biggins 4 and Scott Colbourne 1. …………………………………………………… The Timmins HVS Blues edged the Etobicoke Monsignor Johnson Jaguars 78-74 as Ivo Verbeek scored 20. Jopaul led the Jaguars with 14. …………………………………………………… The London Central Golden Ghosts dispatched the Aurora St. Andrew’s College Saints 65-59 as Colin Feasey scored 21. Chris Herder led the Saints with 24. …………………………………………………… The St. Thomas Central Elgin Titans clocked the North Bay Chippewa Secondary Raiders 57-36 as White scored 15. Ted Simms led the Raiders with 9. Mike Laxton added 7. …………………………………………………… The Windsor John L. Forster Spartans edged the Central Etobicoke Eagles 78-74 despite nearly squandering a 21-point lead. “We can’t win easy,” Spartans coach Wayne Curtin told the Windsor Star. “We play better when we’re scrambling and running scared.” The Spartans played without starting centre Jerry Jack, who was in British Columbia because of a family problem. “We were playing frightened to start the game,” Curtin said. “We came out and they looked a lot bigger and a lot stronger than us and that had us running scared.” The Spartans trailed by four but exploded for a 31-7 run to take a 38-17 lead. “We just turned it over too many times,” Etobicoke coach Bob Watters said. “They were making some great passes inside and they have a very good press. We’ve seen a lot of presses in our area, but not one as good as that one.” The Spartans led 45-29 at the half. “We looked at them and saw that they were big, but we weren’t intimidated,” said Pat Osborne. But Curtin said the squad lost its intensity at the half. “They came in at halftime saying ‘these guys are nothing’.” Etobicoke Central dominated the second half. They trimmed the margin to two with four seconds to play. When Spartans guard Kevin Matthews missed the front end of a one-and-one, Etobicoke’s “We have no offensive plays, we just run,” said Etobicoke post Shawn Gray. “It’s street basketball, but we made some bad passes and had a bunch of turnovers and that cost us.” Etobicoke got the lead down to two with four seconds remaining. The Spartans’ Kevin Matthews then missed the front end of a one-and-one situation and Patrick McCoy pulled down the rebound, while calling a timeout. But Etobicoke had used up their allotment, which resulted in a technical foul. David St. Germain hit both free throws to ice the win. “The first half wore us out,” Osborne said. “That’s because of our lack of bench now. Right now, I’m dying. We were tired and it showed with some of our lapses.” Pat Osborne led the Spartans with 31. David St. Germain added 23 and Walter Pierce 10, along with 8 boards. Shawn Gray led Etobicoke Central with 25.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The Ottawa Lester B. Pearson Panthers defeated the Aurora St. Andrew’s College Saints 64-50 as Ted Lawrence scored 15, Pat Serediuk 13 and Curtis Holden 13. Chris Herder led the Saints with 11. …………………………………………………… The Windsor John L. Forster Spartans dusted the Smith Falls Red Hawks 71-43 as Pat Osborne scored 25, Boismeir 10, St. Germain 8, Bentley 6, Matthews 6, Allen 5, Pierce 4, Sheppard 4 and Metzler 3. The Spartans dominated the Red Hawks 32-16 on the boards. Doug Clements led the Red Hawks with 14. Ronan added 13, Wood 5, Whitney 4, Dinsey 3, Rob Fong 2 and Tim Fong 2. …………………………………………………… The St. Thomas Central Elgin Titans pounded the Owen Sound West Hill Raiders 67-42 as Dave Walters scored 20. Mark Hopkins led the Raiders with 16. Chris Webber added 11, Ryan Yeo 8, Chuck Brown 5 and Jayson Biggins 2. The Raiders (coached by Lorne Johnson) also included Mike Milne, Jeff Leduc, Scott Colbourne, Mike Arhens, Dave Mckeen and Paul Spence. …………………………………………………… The Thunder Bay Port Arthur Redmen edged the North Bay Chippewa Secondary Raiders 44-39 as Brad Norland scored 17. Ted Simms led the Raiders with 10. The Raiders (coached by Dick Stewart) also included Mike Lanton, Einar Skolseq, Clay Langley, Sean Stewart, Cory Andreyechan. …………………………………………………… The London Central Golden Ghosts edged the St. Catharines Sir Winston Churchill Secondary Bulldogs 50-46 as Colin Feasby scored 15 and James Clark 12. The Golden Ghosts led 26-23 at the half. The score was knotted at 37 after three quarters. Brad Bowman led the Bulldogs 18. Scott Reynolds added 15 and Mike Stuart 8. The Bulldogs (coach Fred Reynolds) also included Ely Kerman, Scott Hunter, Dave Butler, Steve Oka, Mike Duzik, Matt Harris, Criag Kirkham, Carl Kota, Larry Orth, Corwin Cambray, Greg Kantes and Jeremy Battye. Bulldogs coach Fred Reynolds told the St. Catharines Standard that “we played well but you can’t with only eight players (several were unable to attend OFSAA while forward Scott Hunter was vacationing in Florida) at this level. We were limited in what we could do but we had a great game.” …………………………………………………… The Timmins HVS Blues edged the Orillia District Blues 69-66 as Ivo Verbeek scored 25. Bob Long led Orillia with 10. The Blues also included Waite. …………………………………………………… The Belleville Nicholson Catholic Crusaders stomped the Central Etobicoke Eagles 74-53 as Paul Richard scored 24. Shawn Gray led the Eagles with 27. The Eagles (coached by Bob Watters also included Patrick McCoy. …………………………………………………… The Chatham John McGregor Panthers clipped the Etobicoke Monsignor Johnson Jaguars 81-69 as Alex Poole scored 23. Greg Edwards led the Jaguars with 21. The Jaguars also included Jopaul.
In the quarterfinals, the unseeded Windsor John L. Forster Spartans defeated the 4th-seeded Ottawa Lester B. Pearson Panthers 71-67. “They’re bigger and maybe a little better inside, but we’re faster so it was our speed against their size,” Spartans’ coach Wayne Curtin told the Windsor Star. “We’re one of the fastest teams in the tournament and we can outrun most teams and have.” While Jack’s presence would have made the Forster rebounding job easier, St. Germain and Walter Pierce have handled the task admirably. Guard Pat Osborne noted that “they’ve got some size, but Walter (Pierce) and Dave (St. Germain) didn’t let them crash the boards. They boxed out well and didn’t give them the putbacks.” St. Germain said “they call us the butt brothers, but we take pride in it.” Curtin said the rebounding allowing Forster press to be effective. “The press makes you not play your game. They were breaking it a few times, but bang, bang, bang, Walter steals or Rondelle (Sheppard) steals and we got eight quick points and it changes their offensive pattern.” Pat Osborne led the Spartans with 35. St. Germain added 16, Sheppard 6, Bentley 5, Matthews 4, Pierce 3 and Boismeir 2. “We couldn’t play straight man-to-man on him because it was impossible, so we doubled down on him and he drove and drew the fouls,” said Pearson coach Mike Bond. Forster trailed by as many as six in the third quarter, but used the press to take the lead for good at 49-48 with 50 seconds left in the third quarter. They stretched the lead to nine and although the Panthers closed to within three points twice, the Spartans iced it at the line. Chris Lawrence paced the Panthers with 19. Dean Prejent added 18, Pat Serediuk 17, Curtis Houlden 9, Loy 3 and Ighorewo 2. The Panthers also included Chris Lawrence, Art Blommesteijn.
The London Central Golden Ghosts stomped the Belleville Nicholson Catholic Crusaders 73-56 as Jamie Clarke scored 20. Paul Richard led the Crusaders with 30.
The 3rd-seeded Chatham John McGregor Panthers whipped the Thunder Bay Port Arthur Redmen 59-39. The Redmen included Brad Norland, Burns.
In the last quarterfinal, the top-seeded St. Thomas Central Elgin Titans clubbed the Timmins HVS Blues 78-63 as Alex Thornton scored 18. Chris Saumur led the Blues with 20.
In the semis, the unseeded Windsor John L. Forster Spartans stunned the top-seeded St. Thomas Central Elgin Titans 49-48. The Spartans led by eight at the half and by four after three quarters. The Titans rallied to knot the score at 39 and then Spartan guard Pat Osborne picked up his fifth foul on a charge. The Titans took a three-point lead but then collapsed. Leading by three, the Spartans intentionally fouled Titans’ Dave McKay with five seconds left. He hit the first free throw to pull St. Thomas within two, but as he attempted to miss the second to set up a rebound for a possible two points to tie, it hit the glass and bounced in. “It was destiny for us,” Spartans coach Wayne Curtin told the Windsor Star. “He meant to miss it and it still went in.” Dave St. Germain then threw the ball into play deep down court and, although St. Thomas collected the rebound, it only left a desperation three-point attempt by McKay that went wide. St. Germain led the Spartans with 17. Osborne added 11, Matthews 7, Pierce 5, Allen 3, Boismeir 2, Sheppard 2 and Metzler 2. Alex Thornton paced the Titans with 16. Dave McKay added 12, White 6, Dave Walters 4, Booy 4, Wismer 4 and Macleod 2.
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Chatham John McGregor Panthers defeated London Central Golden Ghosts 52-40.
In the bronze medal match, the London Central Golden Ghosts edged the top-seeded St. Thomas Central Elgin Titans 63-59 as Colin Feasey scored 16. Dave McKay led the Titans with 13. The Titans also included White, Alex Thornton, Dave Walters, White, Booy, Wismer, Macleod.
In the final, the Chatham John McGregor Panthers defeated the unseeded Windsor John L. Forster Spartans 67-45. The win capped a gender AA double for McGregor. Panther point guard Scott Dunlop consistently broke the Spartans press, while scoring 32, and repeatedly dishing the ball to Alex Poole, who scored 18. Reeve added 9, Oliphant 4 and Juneau Robbins 4. “Scott Dunlop is a great press breaker and was the key to them breaking our press,” Panthers guard Kevin Matthews told the Windsor Star. “He can pass the ball, he can shoot and he can dribble the ball.” Spartans coach Wayne Curtin added that “he did us in. He just ate us up inside.” Forster struggled with its marksmanship, hitting 3-15 in the first quarter while falling behind by 10. “When you play you always think you can hit, but we just had the syndrome of falling flat. There was just a big lid on that rim for us. We ran our plays, but nothing went in and you can’t do anything about it, you just have to shoot and hope it eventually will fall. It did for us, but too late and we were out of it.” The Spartans got no closer than 6. Pat Osborne paced Forster with 14. Matthews added 12 and Dave St. Germain had 10. “You always want to win,” Curtin said. “The immediacy of the situation is you feel bad, but they’ll look back later and see what a great season we’ve had.” Osborne added “heck, we weren’t even supposed to be here. Second best in Ontario, you couldn’t ask for much more other than the gold and we still did prove a point.” The Spartans lost Osborne and starter Rondelle Sheppard to fouls but the bench stepped up. “Those kids hung together,” Curtin said. “We’ve lived on adrenaline all along and we had to have a fall off.” Pat Osborne paced the Spartnas with 14. Kevin Matthews added 12, David St. Germain 10, Mark Bentley 2, Walter Pierce 2, Germaine Metzler 2, Rondell Sheppard 2 and Desire Boismier 1.
The bronze medalist London Central Golden Ghosts: Colin Feasby; James Clark;
The silver medalist Windsor John L. Forster Spartans: Pat Osborne; David St. Germain; Rondell Sheppard; Walter Pierce; Kevin Matthews; Mark Bentley; Randy Allen; Rob Coates; Germaine Metzler; Desire Boismier; Terry Voakes; Jerry Jack; coach Wayne Curtin
The gold medalist Chatham John McGregor Panthers: Juneau Robbins; Alex Poole; Scott Dunlap; Reeve; Oliphant; Robbins; coach Larry Lahey; assistant Mark Meko