Final regular season standings (following re-alignment in summer of 1998):
East (7): George Brown (12-0), St. Lawrence-Kingston (10-2), Loyalist (7-5) Cambrian (6-6), Royal Military College (4-8), Georgian (3-9), Sir Sandford Fleming-Peterborough (0-12).
Central (6): Sheridan (12-3), Humber (11-4), Algonquin (10-5), Centennial (7-8), Seneca (4-11), Durham (1-14).
West (7): Mohawk (10-2), St. Clair (10-2), Fanshawe (8-4), Niagara (6-6), Redeemer (3-9), Sault (3-9) and Lambton (2-10).
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Cambrian Golden Shield: Peter Boulion, Clint Knott, Jason Charlemagne, Jason Jakola, John Dawson, Luke Weger, Dominic Cote, Manuel Gavidia, Brent Blake, Jerry Ferguson, Roxi Minto, Ernie Cull, Gilles Bodson, Bill Gordon
Georgian Grizzlies: Jason McCarl, Ryan Wilson, Paul Wilson, Winford Bailey, Joshua Grills, John Marley, Michael Schmidt, Tim Gray, Chad Traynor, Paul Cairns, Christopher Sutherland, Shane Johnson, Mike Kearnan, Neil Fortier and Paul Kilfoyl, coach John Lee
Lambton Lions: Sean Peters, Mike Levy, Joel McClellan, Dan Wellington, John Founk, Andrew Hale, Josh Jacques, Chris Sauve, Mike Huard, Mike Thornhill, Shaun Haye, Kevin Muir, Doug Hindmarsh, Brandon Moss, Josh Kilner, Rick Brown, coach Steve Pepper
Niagara Knights: Haldon Hutchison, Steve Boyle, Aaron Paisley, Ernell Ellis, Curtis Francis, Marcus O’Connor, Paul Stewart, Randy Clark, Brett Elliot, Kyle Handrahan, Dave Klassen, Mike Wencel, Jeff Pettit, Ben Tomiuk, Jason Brissette, coach Jeff McDonald, assistant Doug Aitchison, assistant Rick Ethier, manager Ian Stewart
Redeemer Royals: Brad Macleod; Ken Van Minnen, Paul Voortman, Jeromy Nagy, Andrew Zomerman, Dave Ellsworth, Devon Paul, Dan Dopko, Justin Renkema, Jerome Vos, Michael Brink, Dale Paas
Royal Military College Paladins: Paul Hungler, Liam Doyle, Nicholas Gallagher, Damon Tedford, Jakob Einarson, Jay Quillam, Joseph Bolland, David Lowen, Sebastien Guay, Kevin Judd, Adam White, Trevor Judd, Billy Boyle, coach Craig Norman
Sault Cougars: Dave McLaughlin, Travis Ruby, Kevin Weber, Ryan Court, Mike Cundari, Bruno Tassone, Michael Smith, Tyler Libou, Gabe Mensah, Alex Smith, Nassar Abdurhrahman, Steve McLeod, Al Zilbylis, Ray Brisson, Neil Winnington-Ingr, Jarret Long, Orion Francis, Shay McGrath, Harold Brohart, coach Richard Joy
Sir Sandford Fleming-Peterborough Knights: Lucas Spear, Colin Halward, Tom Cookson, Mike Bew, Ian Lang, Mike Templeton, John Meyer, Sharif Sabree, Matt Peavoy, Evan Trapp, Chris Dunn, Josh Hinan, Darren Smith, Spencer Lalonde, Mike McIntyre, Chris Shepherd, Ryan Allen, coach Shawn Whitney
In round one of the crossover playoffs, the Algonquin Thunder (3rd, Central) defeated the Durham Lords (6th, Central) 96-65. Bill Crowdis led Durham with 21. Rupert Thomas added 17 and Drew McAlpine 11. Crowdis told the Durham Chronicle that Algonquin’s depth proved the difference. “It’s not easy playing with a short bench while they had fresh guys coming off theirs. … We ran out of gas is basically what happened.” The Lords (coached by Ernie Armstrong) also included Quado Service, Rupert Nyamine, Chris Kloosterman, Kendall David, Shawn Peterson, Chad Richardson, Mark Mengers, Trevor Cain, Scott Hyde, Patrick Elmhurst, Eric Poirer, Val Blok and Randy Liston. …………………………………………………… The Centennial Colts (4th, Central) defeated the Seneca Braves (5th, Central) 68-67. The Braves (coached by Rick Dilena) included Sheldon Hinds, Shaun Lewis, Sandy Jeffrey, Howard Burrell, Ken Duncan, Shabrshad Rajabadeh, Leon Francis, Kevin Gordon, Victor Kayoki, Jeff Therrien, Ean Grant and Joseph Poole.
In round two of the crossover playoffs, the Centennial Colts (4th, Central) defeated the Loyalist Lancers (3rd, East) 69-53. The Colts established an early 19-7 lead but the Lancers cut it to 32-24 by the half. Loyalist continued to narrow the gap until they tied the game at 44. But Centennial’s defence took over and performed admirably down the stretch as the Colts outscored the Lancers 21-5 over the last four minutes of play. Duane Cross led Centennial with 13. Ian Bryan added 13 and Dale Elder 10. Matt Bourgeois led Loyalist with 12. Khalid Quasim added 11. The Lancers (coached by Bruce Collins and Jim Buck) also included Marc Hawley, Seneca Aaron, Kurtis Barnett, Clayton Hoffman, Jeremy Bench, Shawn Artkin, Mike Taylor, George Kapaclis, Rob Barton, Carl McMullen, Fowzi Adib, Jeff Pascoe and Dave Wilson. …………………………………………………… The Algonquin Thunder defeated the Fanshawe Falcons (3rd, West) 72-67. The Falcons (coached by Glenn Johnston) included Kyle Wilkinson, Andrew Cammaert, Saeed Kosar, Bob McFadden, James Freeman, Aaron Cornwall, Corey Bondy, Tom Boyd, Jeff Lowe, Paul Chapman, Matt Kerr, Yaqub Warsame, Eric Trip, Mike Hadden, Andrew Harvey, Brandon Cassell, David Wilby, Jamie Truckel, Ismail Mohamed, Richard Brown and Paul Pranger.
In the quarterfinals, the Algonquin Thunder defeated the George Brown Huskies 76-71 despite trailing 38-34 at the half. The tide turned when the Thunder went to a full court press after the break. Abraham Osman led the Thunder with 13. Jeff Armstrong added 13 and Jamie Trofimczuk 13. Roger Nurse led the Huskies with 19. Marc Madramootoo added 17 and Nate Hogan 15. The Huskies (coached by Willie Delas) also included Paul Cahur, Dale Parris, Jason Dawkins, Raymond Morgan, Lionel Jordan Myrie, Waleed Belcher, Robert Smith, Jon-Paul Clementi, Clifford Brown, Nick Thomas, Mark Young and Glen Kenny.
The Sheridan Bruins defeated the St. Lawrence-Kingston Vikings 94-59 as Shane Bascoe scored 14, C Bennett 12 and E White 10. Kevin Smart led the Vikings with 17. Chris Paronuzzi added 12. The Vikings (coached by Barry Smith) also included Robert Tierney, Bryan Burns, Derek Campbell, Joshua Beckwirth, Trevor Burgess, Terryick Blimke, Chris Carter, Michael Paquette, Tyler Turner and Mike McAuley.
The Humber Hawks nipped the St. Clair Saints 79-78. Humber led 39-26 at the half but St. Clair rallied to take a four-point lead with a minute to play. The Hawks countered with a bucket and putback rebound by Adrian Clarke off an attempted trey to win it. John Murray paced Humber with 23. Issac King added 16 and Marcel Lawrence 12. Jimmy Parsons paced the Saints with 28. Tyrone Elliott added 23 and John Mastromattei 11. The Saints (coached by Rick Muldoon) also included Alphonso Shreve, Mike Kassian, Shawn Taylor, Greg Layson, Steve Brnardic, Eric Chevalier, Mark Scherer, Aaron Sims, Stephane Boucher, Reid Innes and Martin Gecelovsky.
In the last quarterfinal, the Mohawk Mountaineers defeated the Centennial Colts 70-63 after leading 31-29 at the half. Mike Bagshaw paced the Mountaineers with 22. Paul Lowe added 16 and Headley Harriot 14. Duane Cross led the Colts with 17. Ian Bryan added 16 and Duane Elder 12. The Colts (coached by Gerald Carlse) also included Seibert Phillips, Nkosi Adams, Andrew Dixon, Jermaine St. Bennett, Thernel McLawrence, Joseph Nembhard, Sean DeGraff, Chris George, Ron Clarke, Joseph Harrison, Donovan Dobson, Justin Aris, Mark Robinston and Ismail Kara.
In the semis, the Sheridan Bruins defeated the Algonquin Thunder 82-73. The Bruins included transfers Mike Alleyne from Chaminade University in Hawaii, Chris Williams from Cambrian and Andrew Muir from Ryerson. Bryan Harris paced the Bruins with 20. Shane Bascoe added 16 and Chris Williams 11. Errol Fraser led the Thunder with 22. Vasco Martinov added 14 and Andrew Foster 13.
In the other semi, the Humber Hawks defeated the Mohawk Mountaineers 70-63 after leading 37-17 at the half. Adrian Clarke paced the Hawks with 15. Goran Frajesevic led the Mountaineers with 8. M Spence added 8.
In the bronze medal match, the Mohawk Mountaineers nipped the Algonquin Thunder 73-72 on a free throw by Kirk Alfaro with 0.9 seconds on the clock. Algonquin had trailed 67-53 with five minutes to play. Alfaro paced the Mountaineers with 15. Steve Zolis added 13 and Mike Bagshaw 12. Alfaro told the Hamilton Spectator that “that was just a lack of composure. WE had a big lead and we just fell apart.” Algonquin’s Adam Eisenstat had knotted the score at 72 with a trey and 2.9 seconds on the clock. Alfaro said “I grabbed or the ball and expected them to lay off me and play for overtime but the guys hit hands on me. Thank God I made the second shot. That was a lot of pressure.” Mohawk had led 38-33 at the half. Mountaineers coach Frank Lostraco said “we didn’t deserve to win. We stopped playing when we had a 19-point lead.” The Thunder (coached by Hugh Lynn, assisted by Jim Kent and Trevor Costello) included Abraham Osman, Jeff Armstrong, Roland Tiamuh, Andrew Foster, Andrew Rodney, Errol Fraser, Vassil Martinov, Jimmy Sebulime, Jamie Trofimczuk, Trevor Peplinski, Geoff Eisenstat, Adam Eisenstat, Danna St. John, Eric Kuchta, Djordje Varagic, Rohan Morris, Dan Doucette and Ahmed Bogor.
In the final, the Sheridan Bruins nipped the Humber Hawks 77-76 after leading 40-35 at the half. Mike Alleyne hit 9-10 from the line in leading the Bruins to the win, including 8-8 in the second half and a pair with 15 seconds to play. Humber had a chance to win it at the buzzer but Keffrin Dunson’s reverse layup spun off the rim. Sheridan coach Jim Flack told the Hamilton Spectator that “the only thing that was never in doubt about this game was that it would go down to the last possession and it did. From my seat, it was hellish to watch.” Hawks coach Mike Katz told The Coven that “I’m very proud of our guys. I thought it was a great game. Every OCAA championship game that I’ve been involved with has been a great game, said Katz. This one was no exception, perhaps this was the best one. It speaks very highly of the caliber of players we have in the college game.” Hawks guard Sylvio Carta said “we came out real strong in the second half, it’s just unfortunate. We played a great game, especially Keffrin, he played great on the boards. I think if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t even be here. … (Adrian Clarke) was on fire. In the dressing room, Mike goes: Okay guys keep running and go find Adrian, just let him shoot the ball. And that’s what we did.” The Bruins hit 18-21 from the line, while the Hawks were 6-6. “We knew that their foul shooting has been good against us. They didn’t miss. I think their experienced guys showed up and Mike Alleyne (Sheridan Centre) was great,” Katz said. Bruins guard Bryan Harris said “we had the momentum going into this game all the way. Humber’s a great team. I wanted to play them. I know the potential that they have but we’re a really good team. I knew from the beginning that we were going to win this game.” Bruins coach Jim Flack said “in all honesty we got out coached. It’s hard because we’ve beat them three times in a row. He (Katz) made some great adjustments and they had us. But some of our kids stepped it up in the last five minutes and made all their free throws.”
The bronze medalist Mohawk Mountaineers: Kirk Alfaro; Goran Franjesevic; Mike Bagshaw; Paul Lowe; Headley Harriott; Morris Spence; Ron Machida; Edwin Detouche; Mark Knowles; Kirk Alfaro; Lyndon Johnson; Gord Tessier; Steve Zolis; Andrew Winchester; Haile Wolde-Eyesus; Loren Kerr; Mike Bryce; coach Frank Lostracco
The silver medalist Humber Hawks: Jeremy Murray; Isaac King; Adrian Clarke; Marcel Lawrence; Kefferin Dunson; Larry Jefferson; Sylvio Carta; Ivan Kafjex; Leslie Prince; Dexter Miller; Jeremy Walters; James Ashbaugh; Mark Damon; Shawn Carrington; coach Mike Katz
The gold medalist Sheridan Bruins: Shane Bascoe; Bryan Harris; Mike George; Mike Alleyne; Chris Williams; Andrew Muir; Chris Bennett; Scott Chisholm; Brue White; Ricardo Edwards; Kris Ceelen; Elvis Dennis; Hugh Bent; coach Jim Flack