Final regular season standings:
East: Algonquin (12-0); St. Lawrence-Kingston (9-3); Cambrian (6-6); Loyalist (5-7); Royal Military (5-7); Sir Sandford Fleming (3-9); Georgian (2-10).
West: Fanshawe (10-2); Niagara (10-2); Mohawk (8-4); St. Clair (5-7); Redeemer (4-8); Sault (4-8); Lambton (1-11).
Central: Sheridan (13-2); Humber (12-3); George Brown (9-6); Centennial (5-10); Durham (4-11); Seneca (2-13)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Durham Lords: Donald Savage, Juan Vazquez Marejon, Quado Service, Chris Kloosterman, Nigel Pennie, Adam Farr, Andrew McAlpine, Mark Gilkes, Mark Mengers, Dewey Pinnock, Derek Gibson, Jeff Street, Steve Wilson, Chuck Bailey, Josh Sheridan, Jon Knowles, Andre Frank, Cedric Benn, David Shaw, Adrian Baird, coach Ernie Armstrong, coach Peter Gordon?
Georgian Grizzlies: Winford Bailey, Michael Bryce, Ryan Wilson, John Marley, Tyler Murray, Ryan Thompson, Evan Mather, Shane Johnston, Adam Timmons, Adrian Anderson, Kevin Odhoch-Nundu, Rablh Farah, Michael Schmidt, Jason Thompson, Samuel Hilliard, Chad Traynor, Lalonde Spencer, Christopher Sutherland, Christopher Galloway and Johnathan Drysdale.
Lambton Lions: Mike Levy, Sean Peters, Jon Founk, Dan Wellington, Fred Follins, Matt White, Shaun Daye, Kevin Grimmond, Mike Cook, Mike Hunter, Andrew Hale, Tim Copp, Matt Bye, Rob Fawcett, Jeff Otten, Patrick Marshall, Jason Kelly and Justin Randall.
Loyalist Lancers: Clayton Hoffman, Derrick Cassleman, Andrew Ferris, Franco Veneruzzo, Kurtis Barnett, Nick Briere, Khalid Quasim, Max Calixte, Scott Thompson, Andrew McWhirter, Mohammoud Abdirahman, Carl McMullen, Lyle Quan, Mark Courtney and Jason Lewis.
Redeemer Royals: Jeromy Nagy, Paul Voortman, Andrew Zomerman, Ryan Schipper, Ken Van Minnen, Dave Ellsworth, Dale Paas, Pete Markus, Dan Dopko, Billy Omukhango, Justin Renkema, Justin Allen and coach Moses Silva.
Royal Military College Paladins: Paul Hungler, Nick Gallagher, Jake Einarson, Jerome Patry, Liam Doyle, Jay Quilliam, Carl Monk, Chad Gehl, Joe Boland, Nick Soontiens, Brad Roberts, Dave Lowen, Jimmy Hughes and Kris Stachura.
St. Clair Saints: Steve Talbot Jr., Joe Shadd, John Mastromattei, Mike Kassian, Greg Layson, Shawn Carrington, Alphonso Shreve, Jon Awad, Cedric Henry, Paul J. Chalut, Steve Brnardic, Shawn Taylor, Reid Innes, Przemyslaw Rudowski, Doentezshi Elliot, Ryan Middleton and coach Rick Muldoon.
Sault Cougars: Kevin Weber, Chris Burk, Travis Ruby, Michael Pavoni, Bruno Tassone, Jacob Robinson, Mike Cundari, Serge Lafond, Alain Perreault, Gareth Nakogee, Steve Middleton, Allan Hamilton, Alex Smith, Eric Watt and Christopher Maltais.
Seneca Braves: Shaun Lewis, Rohan Fisher, Sharshad Rajabzadeh, David Ashley, Courtenay Campbell, Leon Francis, Jamaal Fyffe, Marlon Reid, Courtnay Vassell, Mark McGregor, Rudy Talarico, Vladimir Bogeljic, Rodney McDonald, Julian Soares, Leon Morgan, coach Rick Dilena
Sir Sandford Fleming-Peterborough Knights: Tom Cookson, Dale Swift, Colin Halward, Lucas Spear, John Mayer, Damian Greene, Evan Trapp, Nas Abdulrahman, Lee Lewis, Dan Moore, Mike McIntyre, Rusty Van Diepeningen, Matt Peavoy, Daren Loucks, Matt Ward, coach Jeff Cookson.
In the opening round, the Cambrian Golden Shield (East, 3rd) drubbed the George Brown Huskies (Central, 3rd) 77-75. “I told the guys before the game that we have seven guys that won’t be on this team after this year and we have to do it for these guys and everybody stepped up,” said guard Peter Bouillon. “Right now, it’s very emotional and the biggest win we’ve had.” Cambrian coach Bill Gordon called it a “huge win. Some of the guys that are finished this year were crying at the end and it’s understandable. A lot of those guys have done a lot for this program and they’ve spent four tough years here and hopefully, we can keep it going for them.” Gordon said his Golden Shield did a great job shutting down 6-8 Brooklyn-NY native Andrew Richards, holding him to seven points before fouling out midway through the second half. “We had a lot of different strategies to throw at the big guy this time. We stuck to the game plan we wanted and it worked out.” Clint Knott led Cambrian with 20. John Dawson added 17, Nelson Louro 15, Peter Bouillon 12, Dan Milliard 11 and Jason Charlemagne 10. George Brown coach Willie Delas declined comment to the media because he was upset with officials. Huskies athletic director Albert Dasilva said “I think Cambrian shot the lights out and once they got ahead, they stayed in their zone and made it very difficult for us. But if you look at the officials and the foul situation, it was 37 to 19. I know we’re more aggressive but it has to be a little bit more even. It’s very tough to play out of town but I give full credit to Cambrian. If they keep shooting that way, they will upset some more teams.” The Huskies included Andrew Richard, Roger Nurse, Dion Horsford, Raymond Morgan, Abdallas Sudarin, Shawn Wyse, Clifford Brown, Lionel Myrie, Dale Parris, Lowell Stephens, Jon Paul Clementi, Wayne Willis, Franklyn Clarke, Nick Jovanovic, Mark Tropman, Mark Scarlett, Rob MacKinnon, Mark Sabina, Nick Menna, Nigel Reoch, Clayton Thomas, Oneil Cameron and Nick Jovanovic. …………………………………………………… The Centennial Colts (Central, 4th) edged the Mohawk Mountaineers (West, 3rd) 56-51. The Mountaineers included Mike Bagshaw, Headley Harriott, Eric Davis, Ron Machida, Edwin Detouche, Luke Wille, James Parry, Grant Duggan, Ab Mendoza, Rick Bruno, Jason Newton, Steve Zolis, Angus McKillop, Jesse Horner, Damion Steen, Revi Williams, Jay Lantz and Kou Kou.
In the quarterfinals, the Algonquin Thunder (East, 1st) defeated the Centennial Colts (Central 4th) 74-53 as Saeed Kosar scored 16, Abraham Osman 13, Jeff Armstrong 12, Vasco Martinov 9, Errol Fraser 8, Dove Luutaya 6, J.F. Gratton 6 and Phil Anderson 4, while Trevor Peplinski, Brian Johnson and Djordie Varagic were scoreless. Ian Bryan led Centennial with 15. Jermaine Bennett added 13, Rom Halverson 10, Richmond Arhin 6, Eustace Cozier 3, Chris George 2 and Alex Noel 2. The Colts also included Andrew Mitchell, Davion Rollocks, Olatokumbo Awogobade, Kris Groulx, Andrew Dixon, Sean Riley, Rom Halverson, Wescott Holdford, Andrew Mihalakakos, Jason Blackwood, Omari Aris and Sean Watson.
The Sheridan Bruins (Central, 1st) defeated the St. Lawrence-Kingston Vikings (East, 2nd) 68-56 as Shane Bascoe scored 15, Chris Coote 11, Ricardo Edwards 10, Elvis Dennis 7, Hugh Bent 6, Erue White 4, Kris Ceelen 4, Chris Bennett 4, Glen Boothe 3, Damian Pratore 2 and Chris Williams 2. Michael Dixon led the Vikings with 19. Andrew Jones added 18, Michael Kovach 6, Trevor Burgess 5, Bryan Burns 4 and Eddie Igumira 4. The Vikings (coached by Barry Smith, assisted by Dave Nichols and Mel Martyn), included Robert Tierney, Denis Aseltine, Link Malott, Kevin Smart, Michael Paquette, Derek Campbell and Scott McKinney.
The Fanshawe Falcons (West, 1st) defeated the Cambrian Golden Shield 90-63. The Golden Shield included Jason Charlemagne, Peter Bouillon, Clint Knott, Jason Jakola, John Dawson, Dan Milliard, Nelson Louro, Luc Werger, Trevor Wakeford, Jerry Ferguson, Roxi Muto, Ernie Cull, Dale Pelletier, Mike Landry and Steve Swoboda.
In the last quarterfinal, the Humber Hawks (Central, 2nd) defeated the Niagara Knights (West, 2nd) 98-61. The Hawks blew the game open with a 14-0 run to start the second half. “We played a good, solid defensive game. When the defence got better, the offence got better. We put pressure on them, started stealing the ball, and the scoring came along,” Hawk captain Marcel Lawrence told The Coven. Hawks coach Mike Katz said “I didn’t think we played that well. I thought we were pretty nervous at the beginning of the game. But in the second half, when you go on a 14-zero run you are in pretty good shape.” The Knights (coached by Ralph Nero, assistant Mike Becaria, assistant Ric Ethier, manager Dave Gascho, trainer Tony Ferrusi) included Ernell Ellis, Curtis Francis, Haldon Hutchinson, Aaron Paisley, Andrew Higgins, David Klassen, Kyle Handrahn, Paul Stewart, Andre Creighton, Mat Miron, Marcus O’Connor, Gregory Penney, Jason Rose, Mike Wencel and Chris Haggart.
In the semis, the host Humber Hawks dispatched the Fanshawe Falcons 70-53 as Dexter Miller scored 20, Jason Francis 17, Adrian Clarke 15, Mark Damon 5, Marcel Lawrence 4, Kingsley Hudson 3, Cornell Brown 2, Rupert Thomas 2 and James Ashbaugh 2. Kyle Wilkinson paced the Falcons with 14. Dave Brown added 12, Andrew Cammaert 9, Rob McFadden 4, Marlon Coore 4, Chad Foster 3, Tom Boyd 3, Chris Bronan 2 and Chris Barkley 2. The Hawks took command with an 8-0 run in the second quarter and led by 18 at the half. Fanshawe never seriously threatened. Hawks coach Mike Katz told The Coven “Our game plan tonight was to really concentrate on what we had to do defensively to hold them down, which we did. Our offence wasn’t real pretty but it was a great defensive effort.” Assistant Dave DeAveiro said Marcel Lawrence’s contributions were key. “Skinny is one of those guys who does things that don’t come up on the Stat sheet. He does the little things that you don’t see on the score sheet. This is the most I have ever seen Skinny focused.”
In the other semi, the Sheridan Bruins defeated the Algonquin Thunder 83-72 as Hugh Bent scored 21, Shane Bascoe 20, Damian Pratore 22, Chris Bennett 8, Ricardo Edwards 6, Chris Coote 6, Chris Williams 4 and Brue White 3. Saeed Kosar paced the Thunder with 24. Errol Fraser added 19, Abraham Osman 13, Vasco Martinov 8, Dove Lutaaya 5, Jeff Armstrong 2 and J.F. Gratton 1. Sheridan coach Jim Flack told The Coven that “I’m ecstatic. Every season you try to win a championship and a National championship and we are hoping to try and three-peat. I don’t care [who we play in the final]. Humber’s going to be awful tough in their gym but Fanshawe’s program has just blossomed this year and what I saw last night
[against Cambrian]
scared the hell out of me. We are much more familiar with Humber but it’s their gym and it’s tough to beat a team in their gym.”
In the bronze medal match, the Algonquin Thunder defeated the Fanshawe Falcons 97-90 as Vasco Martinov scored 21, Abraham Osman 19, Saeed Kosar 16, Jeff Armstrong 12, Phil Anderson 10, Errol Fraser 8, Dove Lutaaya 7 and Jean-Francois Gratton 4. Andrew Cammaert paced the Falcons with 25. Dave Brown added 18, Chris Brosnan 14, Kyle Wilkinson 11, Chad Foster 8, Josh Roy 6, Cory Bondy 3, Tom Boyd 3 and Marlon Coore 2. The Falcons also included Bob McFadden, Chris Barkley, Matt Bottineau, Francois Turgeon, Jamie Fisher, Brad Kerr, Stewart Farnum and Jeff Lowe.
In the final, the Humber Hawks defeated Sheridan Bruins 79-72 as Jason Francis scored 24, Dexter Miller 18, Cornell Brown 16, Marcel Lawrence 9, Mark Damon 6, Adrian Clarke 4 and Rupert Thomas 2. Shane Bascoe paced the Bruins with 24. Hugh Bent added 16, Chris Bennett 14, Elvis Dennis 6, Ricardo Edwards 6, Chris Williams 4 and Chris Coote 2. The win partly avenged three consecutive OCAA title bout losses by the Hawks to the Bruins. Humber led by 13 at the half on the boardwork of Rupert Thomas and then withstood a final furious Bruins run. Bruins coach Jim Flack told The Coven that “in the first half, we just weren’t aggressive enough. We were back on our heels. We were doing a pretty good job defensively, as good as you can do when they are drilling three’s over your head from long range. Those kinds of shots make it really tough on you. We came up against a Humber team, in their own gym, with their own fans and we didn’t perform.” Bruin Shane Bascoe said “at the beginning of the game, a lot of the guys were a bit tentative on what they wanted to do. Everybody made a lot of mistakes and that caused us to be down by 13 at the half. When we tried to get
back into it, it was too late.” Hawk guard Marcel Lawrence said “it feels good to beat them. For the last three years we keep losing to them by small margins and it’s about time we took one from them.” Adrian Clarke added that “I feel good, oh my God! It’s just so wonderful to just win another championship. I won one at the beginning of my career and I won
one at the end of my career.” Hawks coach Mike Katz said “the fact that our three guys shot the ball so well all year, J.B. [Cornell Brown], Dexter [Miller], and Skippy [Jason Francis]. Our outside shooting broke their hearts. We made key outside shots and I think that was it. I also think that the fact that guys like J.B. and Skippy hadn’t been around when
we lost by scores of two, six, and one in the past three provincial championships.”
After the season, Ernie Armstrong retired as head coach at Durham after two seasons, during which he was 20-46. He is replaced by Peter Gordon, former star at Prince Edward Island. A three-time all-Canadian and a three-time AUAA MVP. Gordon had been an assistant with the Lords for the previous two years.
The bronze medalist Algonquin Thunder: Saeed Kosar; Abraham Osman; Jeff Armstrong; Vasco Martinov, Errol Fraser; Dove Luutaya; Jean-Francois Gratton; Phil Anderson; Paul Gysbers; Brian Johnson; Djordje Varagic; Trevor Peplinski; David Schow; coach Hugh Lynn
The silver medalist Sheridan Bruins: Shane Bascoe; Elvis Dennis; Chris Bennett; Hugh Bent; Ricardo Edwards; Chris Williams; Chris Coote; Brue White; Damian Paratore; Kris Ceelen; Tim Woods; Brad Johnson; Glenerl Boothe; Edson Jones; Trevor Boswell;
The gold medalist Humber Hawks: Jason Francis; Dexter Miller; Adrian Clarke; Marcel Lawrence; Cornell Brown; Rupert Thomas; Kingsley Hudson; Jeremy Walters; James Ashbaugh; Mark Damon; Chris Ottoro; Alfred Simmonds; Chris Aim; David Phillips; Trevor Baptiste; Sidney Jeffrey; Nathaniel Fraser; coach Mike Katz