In the opening, seeding round, held in Windsor: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders crushed the 12th-seeded Oshawa G.L. Roberts Lakers 64-41 after leading 12-9, 39-22 and 55-28 at the quarters. Matthew Blalha led the Raiders with 23. Ashton Allen paced the Lakers with 11. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Sault St. Marie St. Basil Saints dumped the 16th-seeded Toronto Archbishop Romero Raiders 50-43 after leading 12-7, 22-19 and 39-34 at the quarters. Matt Bertolissi paced the Saints with 16. Tom Campana added 12, Will Hamilton 10, Mario Bruni 10 and Fraser Speckman 9. Saints coach Lou Mazzuca told the Sault Star that Bertolussi “had a good game. He took care of the ball. We were a little rusty overall because we hadn’t played in nine days and we didn’t hit shots like we normally would but we played escellent defence.” Bertolissi said “we played well. We brough a lot of energy.” Shaquil Woodcock led the Raiders with 22. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Dundas Parkside Panthers whipped the 18th-seeded Thunder Bay Sir Winston Churchill Trojans 57-32 after leading 20-15, 32-21 and 41-25 at the quarters. Quinn Henderson paced the Panthers with 13. Kyle Giedraitis added 11. Brandon Myketa led the Trojans with 13. Alex Tempelman added 7. …………………………………………………… The 14th-seeded Smith Falls Red Hawks dispatched the 8th-seeded London Montcalm Cougars 59-44 after leading 15-13, 29-19 and 47-33 at the quarters. Brendan Judd led the Red Hawks with 22. Vince Dufort added 11 and Curtis Onion 13. Isiah Trotman and Sean Nicholas each scored 15 to pace the Cougars. “We did very well,” said Smith Falls coach Todd Spencer. “We beat them with our fast break and three-point shooting.” …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Windsor J.L. Forster Spartans edged the 9th-seeded Ottawa Lester B. Pearson Panthers 68-63 in overtime after leading 14-10, 34-23 and 46-35 at the quarters. Kyle Osborne paced the Spartans with 21. Trent Payne added 17. Johnny Berhanemeskel led the Panthers with 33. Musumbu Kabongo added 9. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Timmins HVS Blues dusted the 13th-seeded Owen Sound Collegiate Falcons 72-60 after leading 17-14 after one quarter and 32-24 at the half. Owen Sound led 46-40 after three quarters. Andrew Vincent paced the Blues with 29. Kevin Bunn led the Falcons with 22. Matt Munk added 14, Ben Singbeil 11 and Ben Ewasko 11. Falcons coach Lee Jacques told the Owen Sound Sun Times that “we came out a little sluggish and a little nervous, which is what I expected from a first time OFSAA team. It just wasn’t a very good shooting day for us.” …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Windsor W.F. Herman Griffins stomped the 15th-seeded Orillia Patrick Fogarty Flames 79-52. Fogarty led 18-16 after one quarter. Herman led 36-33 at the half and 55-41 after three quarters. Jordan Gauthier paced the Griffins with 21. Antoine Chandler added 22. Joey Timpano led the Flames with 20. 6-8 post Levi LaPierre added 16. The Flames committed 37 turnovers. “We came out rusty,” Herman guard Jordan Gauthier told the Windsor Star. “We finally got it together in the second half.” Antoine Chandler added that “we were a little shaky and we played a bad half defensively. Once we got our legs back, we started playing smarter on defence.” Griffins coach Reg Hart said “our whole goal when we’re playing against (a big post) is to try and minimize the damage by their guards. We’ll concede 20 points to the big guy.” …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Toronto George Harvey Hawks clubbed the 17th-seeded Kingston Loyalist Lancers 62-34. Loyalist led 19-13 after one quarter. George Harvey led 39-20 at the half and 59-30 after three quarters. Tryell Moodie and Omar Burns each scored 11 to pace the Hawks. Desmond Adams led the Lancers with 10. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix edged the 11th-seeded Peterborough Thomas A. Stewart Griffins 44-40 after leading 17-14, 22-18 and 33-28 at the quarters. Keegan Dunlop paced the Phoenix with 19. John Heaton led the Griffins with 16.
In the second, elimination round: …………………………………………………… The 16th-seeded Toronto Archbishop Romero Raiders whipped the 18th-seeded Thunder Bay Sir Winston Churchill Trojans 74-56 after leading 20-9, 41-26 and 51-40 at the quarters. Andre Salmon paced the Raiders with 15. Brandon Myketa led the Trojans with 26. Timothy Baxter added 18.
…………………………………………………… The 15th-seeded Orillia Patrick Fogarty Flames dumped the 17th-seeded Kingston Loyalist Lancers 58-49. Loyalist led 14-13, 29-24 and 41-39 at the quarters. Joey Timpano paced the Flames with 26. Desmond Adams led the Lancers with 16.
In the third round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders clipped the 16th-seeded Toronto Archbishop Romero Raiders 54-39 after leading 15-10, 33-19 and 42-30 at the quarters. Matt Blalha led Aquinas with 18. Will Coulthard added 11. Shaquille Woodcock paced Romero with 15. Nathan Samuels added 10. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Windsor J.L. Forster Spartans whipped the 14th-seeded Smith Falls Red Hawks 57-37 after leading 24-9, 36-21 and 46-30 at the quarters. Trent Payne paced the Spartans with 21. Kyle Osborne added 16. Vincent Dufort led the Red Hawks with 16. Steve Summers added 13. “We caught them on a day when they were on fire,” said Smith Falls coach Todd Spencer. “They were very athletic and very fast. We thought we could compete against them.” The Red Hawks were losing spectacularly during the first quarter, finishing it down 24-9. The rest of the way, Spencer said, the boys pulled up their socks and competed “very well,” but weren’t able to erase the deficit. Vince Dufort pulled 16 points, while Steve Summers netted 13 points. “We were disappointed, but the effort was there,” said Spencer. “We were pretty pleased with winning the first game and proud we could compete.” …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Windsor W.F. Herman Griffins stomped the 13th-seeded Owen Sound Collegiate Falcons 89-40 after leading 47-18 at the half. Curtis Gibbons led the Falcons with 14. Matt Monk added 12 and Ben Singbeil 12. Falcons coach Lee Jacques told the Owen Sound Sun times that “I don’t know how many people that gym could hold but it was literally filled to the rafters with people taunting and calling them names. It was different than anything they’d ever experienced and it was a lot of fun.” …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Toronto George Harvey Hawks edged the 11th-seeded Peterborough Thomas A. Stewart Griffins 65-60. The Griffins led 28-18, 38-28 and 50-48 at the quarters. Tyrell Ferguson paced the Hawks with 22. John Heaton led the Griffins with 22. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Sault Ste. Marie St. Basil Saints whipped the 12th-seeded Oshawa G.L. Roberts Lakers 57-27 after leading 19-6, 31-13 and 47-21 at the quarters. Mario Bruni paced the Saints with 18. Will Hamilton added 10. Michael Hughes led the Lakers with 11. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Dundas Parkside Panthers crushed the 8th-seeded London Montcalm Cougars 59-36. Parkside led 18-13 after one quarter. Montcalm led 29-27 at the half. Parkside led 41-32 after three quarters. Quinn Henderson paced the Panthers with 18. Sean Nicholas led the Cougars with 22. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Timmins HVS Blues edged the 9th-seeded Ottawa Lester B. Pearson Panthers 63-59 after leading 18-9, 35-28 and 47-36 at the quarters. Andrew Vincent paced the Blues with 21. Johnny Berhanemeskel led the Panthers with 27. The Panthers (coached by Sarah Morris, assisted by Rob Dawson) also included Mike Placide, Ramzi Salem, Kevin Sharkey, Neil Doctor, Brian Nilo, Achuil Lual, Josh Kabongo and Darren Pagal. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix clubbed the 15th-seeded Orillia Patrick Fogarty Flames 52-30 after leading 36-22 at the half. Michael Pavela led the Phoenix with 9. Joey Timpano paced the Flames with 11. The Flames also included Jason Bailey, Levi LaPierre.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders crushed the 10th-seeded Windsor J.L. Forster Spartans 60-39 after leading 10-7, 22-12 and 44-30 at the quarters. Charlie Drouin paced the Raiders with 20. David McDuffie led the Spartans with 16. The Spartans (coached by Pat Osborne) also included Kyle Osborne, Trent Payne, Jordan Sickles, Shamarke Abdulla, Yusuf Mohamud, Muhammed Youssouf, Dushawn Roberts.
The 4th-seeded Windsor W.F. Herman Griffins whipped the 5th-seeded Toronto George Harvey Hawks 60-40. Harvey led 15-7 after one quarter and 23-16 at the half. Herman led 34-33 after three quarters. Jordan Gauthier led the Griffins with 24. Tyrell Ferguson led the Hawks with 12.
The 3rd-seeded Dundas Parkside Panthers clubbed the 6th-seeded Sault Ste. Marie St. Basil Saints 53-32 after leading 26-19 at the half. Kyle Giedraitis paced the Panthers with 15. Tom Campana led the Saints with 11 and Matt Bertolissi 8. Campana told the Sault Star that “we battled hard and that counts for a lot. But that was probably the best team we played all year. They were really solid and a lot of the bounces went their way.” Saints coach Lou Mazzuca said “every time we’d get closer, they would a big shot, get a loose ball, hit a three. And our shots wouldn’t go in. We didn’t have one player who shot really well.” The Saints (coached by Mazzuca) also included Mike Alexander, Geoff Clarke, Mario Bruni, Andrew King, Jeff Lloyd, Mike Oliveira, Sam Campana, Nick Palazzi, Jordan Hawdon, Kellen Stilin and Daniel Scarpino.
In the last quarterfinal, the 7th-seeded Timmins HVS Blues stunned the 2nd-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix 68-57 after leading 19-13, 34-26 and 53-40 at the quarters. Andrew Vincent paced the Blues with 27. Pat Pilato led the Phoenix with 19. The Phoenix (coach Pat Sullivan, coach Patrick O’Leary) also included Michel Pavela, Nathan Co, Connor Dick, William Olsthoorn, Mitchell Plata, Jack Wittig, Jon De Luca, Raoul Rugamba, Josh Rempel, Michael Kessler and Keegan Dunlop.
In the semis, the 4th-seeded Windsor W.F. Herman Griffins upset the top-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders 60-58. Aquinas led 17-9 after one quarter and 34-26 at the half. Herman led 46-43 after three quarters. Jordan Gauthier paced the Griffins with 21. Antwon Ferguson added 11. Charlie Drouin led the Raiders with 18. Matt Blalha added 12. Tashan Ricketts missed the semifinal for the Raiders due to school commitments for the apprenticeship program he is enrolled in. “Missing him was a key factor,” Polizzi said. “He’s usually good for eight to 10 rebounds and eight to 10 points.”
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Dundas Parkside Panthers clobbered the 7th-seeded Timmins HVS Blues 68-48 after leading 39-24 at the half. Kyle Giedraitis paced the Panthers with 23. Quinn Henderson added 16. Eric Ducharme led the Blues with 16. Andrew Vincent added 12.
In the bronze medal match, the top-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders edged the 7th-seeded Timmins HVS Blues 69-64 after leading 18-17, 33-32 and 57-49 at the quarters. Matt Blaha led the Raiders with 26. Charlie Drouin added 15, Will Coulthard 11 and Tashan Ricketts 10. The Raiders earned their third provincial medal in three years. “The senior leadership really came through for us,” said Aquinas coach Joe Polizzi. “They wanted to leave with a medal. They wanted to leave with a win, not a loss. … They had size down low and we struggled with that early,” Polizzi said. “They were a physical team.” But Timmins also had an outside threat in Eric Ducharme, who hit six three-pointers in the game. “We just made sure we contested all of (Ducharme’s) shots,” Polizzi said, “and because we were undersized, we had to give extra effort and box out to get the rebounds.” Though Aquinas, which went into the tournament as the No. 1 seed, didn’t achieve its ultimate goal of defending its title, Polizzi said the team still had every reason to be proud of its season. “It’s a tough road to get to OFSAA, but we proved capable of being up with the best of the best,” Polizzi said. Blues assistant coach Peter Graham said “what hurt us was a couple of transition hoops and giving up second shot opportunities, especially in the first half.” The Raiders led 51-49 at the half and took and eight-point lead in the third quarter before cruising to the win. Eric Ducharme led the Blues with 22. Andrew Vincent added 18 and Byron Wabono 12. The Blues (coached by Darrell Sokoloski, assisted by Peter Graham) also included Nate Emond, Brandon Blais, Dave Bracken, Cory Wabano, Shayne Gilles, Dwayne Gilles, Aaron Michaud and Kraymer Grenke.
In the final, the 3rd-seeded Dundas Parkside Panthers defeated the 4th-seeded Windsor W.F. Herman Griffins 63-51 after leading 16-11, 31-24 and 47-33 at the quarters. Kyle Giedraitis paced the Panthers with 19. Quinn Henderson added 15 and Justin Johnson 15. Jordan Gauthier led the Griffins with 23. Antoine Chandler added 15. Henderson said the Panthers second round win over London Montcalm proved the difference. “It made everyone confident,” said Henderson. Parkside coach Dan Meyer said five wins in three days is draining, physically and emotionally. … The closeness of the team helped them get through tough situations. They put a lot of time and effort into this.” Johnson said the squad focused on defence, confident the scoring would come. “Everyone is good enough on offence that if we play defensively, we could win.” It’s the third gold in basketball (for boys) in the school’s history. The other two were in 1987 and 1974. “Nick (White) and I have been coaching together at Parkside for five years,” said Dan Meyer. “The players and us have never experienced anything like this. It’s our fourth trip to OFSAA and our highest finish. We won bronze last year. This time we got it done. … Our guys got healthy just at the right time. We played really good basketball. We were a shooting team all season long, but at OFSAA it was our defence that spurred on our offence.” Meyer said point guard Giedraitis and 6-foot-5 Johnson were outstanding. “Herman is a quick, athletic team. They keep coming at you. A key for us was how well we were able to handle that. Kyle scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half. “Justin was a really physical presence. He had 15 points, converted some key foul shots and was a beast on the boards for us. He really came on at the end of the year. That was the nicest surprise we had.” Gauthier told the Windsor Star that “this hurts. I can’t appreciate this medal. Not yet. It’s too soon. This hurts more than anything I’ve ever been through.” Kyle Geidraitis opened the game with 9 straight points to give Herman a 9-2 lead. “This has been a season long goal of ours to win OFSAA,” he said. “This is what we worked for every day in practice.” Herman coach Reg Hart said “they wear you down mentally. “They’re so fundamentally sound and if you leave them open, they’re going to knock’ em down.” After falling behind by 17 early in the fourth at 51-34, the Griffins staged an inspiring rally kick started by guard Antoine Chandler who drained three consecutive threes. Another trey by Matt Barker closed the gap to 55-50 with three minutes to play but that’s a close as the Griffins could get. Mart said “I know exactly how they feel. They’re devastated but you know what. This is still an accomplishment. There were only eight (AA) teams in the whole province playing today out of how many?” Antwan Ferguson nabbed 10 boards for the Griffins.
The bronze medalist Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders: Matthew Blaha; Will Coulthard; Charlie Drouin; Tashan Ricketts; Ryan Thomson; Kyle Enright; Evan St. Hilaire;
The silver medalist Windsor W.F. Herman Griffins: Jordan Gauthier; Antoine Chandler; Antwan Ferguson; Matt Barker; Dean Black; Arjen Colquhuon; Kyle Greening; Eli Hesley; Charles Johnson; Jordan Pittman; Cyle Teaney; Barva Khashoo; Beau Lumley; coach Reg Hart; assistant Marcel Freeman; assistant Dan Lumley; assistant Jeff Seguin
The gold medalist Dundas Parkside Panthers: Quinn Henderson; Kyle Geidraitis; Justin Johnson; Mark VanDuyvenoorde; Levon Thornton; Peter Sober; Jeff Hunt; Matthew Nicol; Dustin MacTaggart; Nik Panagiotou; Matt Cicuttini; Mike Dzikic; coach Dan Meyer; assistant Nick White