In the opening seeding round: …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Scarborough Sir Robert L. Borden defeated the 16th-seeded Guelph Bishop MacDonnell Celtics 65-53 after leading 19-12, 35-24 and 49-36 at the half. Ajahmo Clarke paced Borden with 19. Tanner Lane led the Celtics with 19. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders nipped the 15th-seeded Toronto Bishop F. Marrocco 48-47 despite trailing 15-11, 26-20 and 37-36 at the quarters. Trevor Williams led Aquinas with 24. Alan Walters paced Marrocco with 23. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Timmins Blues dusted the 17th-seeded Thunder Bay Sir Winston Churchill Trojans 67-39 after leading 23-13, 35-22 and 47-39 at the quarters. Andrew Vincent led Timmins with 20. Alex Tempelman led Churchill with 9. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded London Montcalm Cougars dumped 18th-seeded Tottenham St. Thomas Aquinas 60-46 after leading 38-26 at the half. “We didn’t play very well, but we got to play everyone,” said Cougars coach Gar Leyshon, whose team was making its first appearance at an OFSAA team championship. “It’s there if we want it,” Leyshon said. Anis Omar and Sean Nicolas each scored 12 to pace Montcalm. Matthew O’Grady led Aquinas with 11. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Dundas Parkside Panthers whipped the 11th-seeded Oshawa G.L. Roberts Lakers 55-31 after leading 11-7, 24-16 and 40-20 at the quarters. Andrew Cicuttini led Parkside with 18. Terrell Lewis led G.L. Roberts with 9. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix whipped the 12th-seeded Cornwall St. Joseph’s Panthers 54-35 after leading 10-8, 26-20 and 36-25 at the half. Tshing Kasamba paced St. Francis with 30. Jordan McAllister led St. Joseph’s with 15. …………………………………………………… The 14th-seeded Cobourg District Collegiate Vikings nipped the 8th-seeded Perth Blue Devils 52-50. Cobourg led 10-9 after a quarter, trailed 19-17 at the half and led 33-32 after three quarters. Joshua Oakman Allen led Cobourg with 15. Aiden Smyth led Perth with 15. “My feeling is the whole block in the middle is even and every team could beat each other on any day,” said coach Paul Allen. “We know that you would rather win to get a better route,” said Allen, who coaches the team with Ron Fischl. “We played very calmly with poise, didn’t get too excited and cut turnovers down when we needed to.” CDCI West led 10-9 after the first quarter but trailed 19-17 at the half. Cobourg led 33-32 after three quarters of play and were up three points with nine seconds left, only to have Perth pull even and send the game to overtime with the score tied 47-47. Leading by two points with eight seconds left in the extra frame, the Vikings switched to a man-to-man defence which seemed to befuddle Perth, said Allen. Perth managed to get a shot off before the buzzer but it was tipped by the Vikings’ Josh Oakman Allen and it didn’t reach the basket. Oakman Allen led the CDCI West offence with 15 points, but coach Allen credits his club’s play without the ball. “Defensively we played well. (Perth was) a very good three-point shooting team, but that’s about all they did,” Allen said. He was also impressed with the composure of the Vikings, noting the players don’t have OFSAA experience but many of them have competed at provincial championships before with the Lakeshore Lynx club team. “They didn’t get caught up in the excitement. They know how to deal with pressure,” he said. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Kanata A.Y. Jackson Blue Jays dumped the 13th-seeded North Bay West Ferris Trojans 64-47 after leading 34-22 at the half. Anthony Hinds paced the Blue Jays with 22. Morgan Brown led West Ferris with 17. “We played a lot of good defence,” Blue Jays coach Steve Ashfield told the Ottawa Citizen. “The kids came out aggressive on defence and we got a 15-point lead by halftime and had it up to 20-22 for most of the game. Denis (Dervisevic) got a lot of inside baskets early in the game and then our three-point shooting got going. We got balanced scoring. We had it spread around.” Denis Dervisevic added 13 for the Blue Jays, Ryan Hefferman 11 and Jordan Erskine 9. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Windsor John L. Forster Spartans clipped the Oshawa Central Chiefs 70-40 after leading 17-11, 28-23 and 50-34 at the quarters. Mohamed Farah paced Forster with 24. Nickolas Gardner led the Chiefs with 17.
In the second elimination round: …………………………………………………… The 17th-seeded Thunder Bay Sir Winston Churchill Trojans edged 15th-seeded Toronto Bishop F. Marrocco 52-47 in overtime, despite trailing 7-5, 22-18 and 37-27 at the quarters. The score was knotted at 41 after regulation time. Edwin Fui led the Trojans with 30. Alan Waters paced Marrocco with 28. …………………………………………………… The 16th-seeded Guelph Bishop MacDonnell Celtics stomped the 18th-seeded Tottenham St. Thomas Aquinas 55-34 after leading 15-7, 29-14 and 37-24 at the quarters. Shaun Valeriote led the Celtics with 16. Thomas Haueter paced Aquinas with 9.
In the third round: …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Timmins Blues crushed the 11th-seeded Oshawa G.L. Roberts Lakers 50-38 after leading 16-8, 28-18 and 34-25 at the quarters. Andrew Vincent and Peter Goetz each scored 17 to lead Timmins. Terrell Lewis paced G.L. Roberts with 13. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders stuffed the 13th-seeded North Bay West Ferris Trojans 71-34 after leading 22-0, 40-10 and 57-14 at the quarters. Charlie Alexander paced Aquinas with 18. Dustin Anthony led West Ferris with 23. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded London Montcalm Cougars dumped the 8th-seeded Perth Blue Devils 50-41 after leading 12-10 after one quarter and trailing 21-19 at the half an d31-33 after three quarters. Sean Nicholas led Montcalm with 16. Aiden Smyth paced Perth with 19. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Scarborough Robert L. Borden Falcons defeated 12th-seeded Cornwall St. Joseph’s Panthers 59-44 after leading 11-10 after a quarter and trailing 25-22 at the half and 36-31 after three quarters. Ajahmo Clarke led Borden with 18. Jordan McAllister led St. Joseph’s with 19. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Windsor John L. Forster Spartans whipped the 14th-seeded Cobourg District Collegiate Vikings 66-47 after leading 21-16, 37-26 and 54-34 after the quarters. Mohamed Farah led Forster with 25. Joshua Okaman Allen paced Cobourg with 19. It wasn’t until the third quarter when Forester, seeded ninth, began to expand its lead, but the club had the 14th-ranked Vikings team on its heels early. Not only was the Windsor school successful in its shooting accuracy, including several shots from behind the arc, during the first half, the club also forced nine against Cobourg, which at times was unable to maintain its composure. “(Forester) just couldn’t miss anything, and from long range even. They probably had at least five three-pointers in the first half,” said Vikings’ coach Paul Allen. Cobourg was able to bridge the gap to four points at one point during the second quarter, but Forster halted the rally and ultimately took an 11-point lead to the half. Forester’s strong offensive play forced the Vikings to switch from a zone defence to man-to-man coverage. Sometimes that change is necessary when the strength of an unfamiliar opponent is determined. “It’s all about who you play. This team was very athletic and very quick. They’re a good team and should have been seeded higher, I’m convinced of that,” Allen said. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix edged the 16th-seeded Guelph Bishop MacDonnell Celtics 38-36. The teams were tied at 6 after one quarter. St. Francis led 21-16 at the half and 31-30 after three quarters. Tshing Kasamba led St. Francis with 22. Tanner Lane led MacDonnell with 14. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded A.Y. Jackson Blue Jays defeated the Oshawa Central Chiefs 50-37 after leading 13-11, 32-19 and 46-28 at the quarters. Anthony Hinds paced the Blue Jays with 15. Denis Dervisevic added 9. Matthew Rafuse led Central with 19. “We got a good start and got up by 21 or 22 points in the first half,” Ashfield said. “Our defence was solid. Our depth also helped and we got balanced scoring. The shooting of our starters wasn’t there but the guys from the second unit really stepped up. But it was solid team defence that did it.” …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Dundas Parkside Panthers dumped the 17th-seeded Thunder Bay Sir Winston Churchill Trojans 53-38 after leading 17-15, 24-21 and 42-31 at the quarters. Adam Dyment led the Panthers with 19. Matthew Schmidt led Churchill with 17.
In the quarterfinals, Scarborough Robert L. Borden whipped the 3rd-seeded London Montcalm Cougars 61-45 after leading 19-11 after one quarter, trailing 31-26 at the half and leading 37-33 after three quarters. Anthony Clarke paced Borden with 16. Damian Warner led Montcalm with 19.
The 4th-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders defeated the 5th-seeded Timmins Blues 45-39 despite trailing 12-7, 19-16 and 32-23 at the quarters. Trevor Williams led the Raiders with 15. A poor second-half performance hurt the Blues as they blew a 31-23 lead. Josh Budd led the Blues with 18 points in the disappointing game. Timmins led the contest 28-18 at halftime, but only managed 11 points in the second half. The Blues, coached by Darrell Sokoloski, included Chad Ringstead, Andrew Vincent and C.J. Baleck.
The 7th-seeded Kanata A.Y. Jackson Blue Jays stomped the 2nd-seeded Dundas Parkside Panthers 61-45 after leading 16-7, 30-11 and 48-20 at the quarters. Blue Jays coach Steve Ashfield told the Ottawa Citizen that the Blue Jays defence against Parkside “was the best I’ve ever seen. In the first half, we have must have stolen the ball 15 times.” Jordan Erskine paced A.Y. Jackson with 14. Anthony Hinds added 13, Ryan Hefferman 13 and Denis Dervisevic 10. Andrew Cicuttini paced Parkside with 13. The Panthers (coached by Nick White, assisted by Paul Baker and Justin Gunter) also included Jordan Tew, Kyle Sutherland, Adam Dyment, Jeff Hunt, Graham Venus, Levon Thornton, Ty Patterson, Mark Van Duyvenvoorde, Victor Padol, Greg Hanigan and Jordan Swire.
In the last quarterfinal, the top-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Raiders clubbed the 9th-seeded Windsor John L. Forster Spartans 55-39 after leading 20-9, 25-14 and 36-22 at the quarters. Tshing Kasamba led St. Francis with 30. Ali Haidar, Kyle Smith and Mohamed Khalil each scored 9 to lead Forster. The Spartans also included Menyas Tutu, Kyle Osborne, Mo Farah, Brad Small.
In the semis, the 7th-seeded Kanata A.Y. Jackson Blue Jays edged the 6th-seeded Scarborough Robert L. Borden Falcons 54-51 in overtime. The Blue Jays led 22-18 at the half and the score was knotted at 45 after regulation. Jordan Erskine put Jackson up by two in overtime and then iced with a free throw with nine seconds to play. Earlier, A.Y. pulled out a proverbial, miracle win as they rallied from 10 points down with four minutes to play. “I thought we were done with four minutes to go but Jordan hit two treys and then Anthony hit four free throws including two with just nine seconds on the clock to force overtime,” Ashfield, who’s in his rookie season at the helm after taking a 7-year hiatus from his former toils as coach of Sir Robert Borden, told the Ottawa Citizen. In overtime, the Blue Jays outscored the Falcons 9-6. “Jordan gave us the lead on a bucket in the final minute and then added a free throw in the final seconds,” Ashfield said. “We capitalized on their mistakes in the rally. Once again, the difference in the game was our defence. It was good.” Anthony Hinds paced the Blue Jays with 19. Jordan Erskine added 15. Ajahmo Clarke led the Falcons with 17.
In the other semi, the top-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix defeated the 4th-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders 49-44 after leading 13-11 after one quarter, trailing 23-22 at the half and leading 33-32 after three quarters. After receiving two technical fouls in the first half, St. Francis pulled the game out in the second half. Tshing Kasamba went 14 of 15 from the foul line to seal the victory for St. Francis. Kasamba led St. Francis with 28. Charlie Alexander paced Aquinas with 14. The Raiders — particularly Alexander and Lars Mueller — limited St. Francis star player Tshing Kasamba to 14 points from the floor. Kasamba, however, went 14-of-15 from the free throw line to finish with 28 points as St. Francis outscored the Raiders 22-16 in the final quarter. Alexander paced the Raiders with 14 points. “Lars played an awesome game. He didn’t score, but we had to guard Tshing,” said Alexander. “I just came in and did what I could, and guess I got lucky (scoring).”
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders defeated the 6th-seeded Scarborough Robert L. Borden 62-55 after leading 17-12, 31-25 and 48-35 at the quarters. St. Thomas led from the outset with strong defense, limiting the Borden penetration and denying the strong outside shooting of their guards. Trevor Williams led the Raiders with 15. Ajahmo Clarke led Borden with 19. The Raiders’ Charlie Alexander, who led Aquinas scorers in two of the team’s five games despite coming off the bench, said it was difficult to get up for game. “I think it was harder than (when the Raiders lost to Holy Trinity in the Halton semifinals last month before regrouping and qualifying for OFSAA) because it was the same day. We all wanted to go to the gold (final) and we knew we had a good shot of winning it,” said the 18-year-old. “You could tell at the start of the bronze game that both teams weren’t giving it their all and were a bit sluggish.” Raiders head coach Mark Maga added, “The bronze game is probably the toughest to play in and coach in. Your ultimate goal is to win gold, but we rallied together and the seniors really wanted to end their careers with a win. It was very nice to leave on a winning note.” Aquinas, the tournament’s fourth seed, led sixth-ranked Borden from wire to wire. The Raiders outscored their opponents 17-10 in the third quarter to open a 48-35 lead, then held on the rest of the way. Trevor Williams led Aquinas with 15 points. Borden included Ajahmo Clarke, Ben Kazzazi, Dane Solomon, Anthony Lyle-Wade and Marlon Brown.
In the final, the 7th-seeded Kanata A.Y. Jackson Blue Jays defeated the top-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix 37-30 despite trailing 6-4, 14-11 and 27-22 at the quarters. Critical three-point shooting and calm guard distribution of the ball led to the impressive turn-a-round in the fourth quarter. A.Y. Jackson finished by hitting their free throws when they needed to. The 7th-seeded Blue Jays trailed 6-4, 14-11 and 27-22 at the quarters but rallied in the final frame with stellar three-point and free throw shooting. “It’s a bit of a shock but I thought we could do it,” an ecstatic Jordan Erskine told the Ottawa Citizen. “We just started playing with more heart and we got the stops we needed.” “This feels great,” said guard Anthony Hinds. “It was just hard defence. We just kept at it and never let up.” Coach Steve Ashfield said “I can barely talk; I’m just sky high here. Little ole A.Y. Jackson, who’d have thought?” Ashfield called it a classic win “for a team over a one-man band. We just wore down their big scorer. They depended on him entirely and we had a team.” Celebration plans? “Just a long bus ride home,” Ashfield said. Jordan Erskine notched 11 points, while Tshing Kasamba led St. Francis with 17.
The bronze medalist Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders: Trevor Williams; Charlie Alexander; Lars Mueller; Ryan Thomson; Matt Blaha; Jon Silver; Adrien Stamples; Eric Fram; Kyle Enright; Deshawn Ricketts; Tashawn Ricketts; Charlie Drouin; Ryley Wright; coach Mark Maga; assistant Mike Giammichele; assistant Rob Nacevicius
The silver medalist St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix: Tshing Kasamba; Danny Haynes; Alex Shah; Jean-Marc Geronimo; Kieran Montalban; Matt Skubel; Nick Schudlo; Mitch McPherson; Duncan McIlhone; Andrew Oolsthorn; Pransiskus Valeninas; Keegan Dunlop; Jonathon DeLuca; coach Patrick Sullivan; assistant Patrick O’Leary
The gold medalist Kanata A.Y. Jackson Blue Jays: Anthony Hinds; Jordan Erskine; Ryan Heffernan; Patrick McCarthy; Denis Dervisevic; Sarjeel Afzal; Ayas Indawala; Ashish Darji; Evgueni Petrenko; Justin Perkins; Haris Adjulovic; Sean McCarthy; Mohammed Yousef; Ismail Deria; coach Steve Ashfield; assistant Cheryl Hyndman