In the opening round, held in North Bay: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix nipped the 12th-seeded Kingston Loyalist Lancers 47-45 as Pat Pilato hit a layup at the buzzer. Loyalist led 16-13 after one quarter and 24-21 at the half. The Phoenix led 35-32 after three quarters. Patrick Pilato paced the Phoenix with 20. Sangee Martin led the Lancers with 15. Desmond Adams added 11. “It’s a tough loss because we essentially controlled a lot of the game and were up most of the way,” said Loyalist coach Jason Wimmer. In the third quarter, “we started forcing shots and getting away from what we’d been doing in the first half. We made some poor decisions and good teams will capitalize on those things.” The Lancers tied the score at 45 on Desmond Adams’ clutch 18-footer with Falcons in his face. But Pilato hit the winner with 1.2 seconds on the clock. “This was a very winnable game for us, at least that’s how everyone feels,” said dejected Lancer Brock McArthur, who managed seven points. “Unfortunately, we forgot to play defence in the third quarter.” Loyalist hit 5-11 from the line. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders edged the 16th-seeded Toronto Archbishop Romero Raiders 60-55 in overtime. Romero led 15-12, 29-24 and 45-34 at the quarters. The score was knotted at 52 after regulation. Dan Thompson paced Aquinas with 23. Yeheaur Fairclough paced Romero with 19. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Sarnia St. Christopher Cyclones whipped the 18th-seeded Orillia Twin Lakes Thunderbirds 69-38 after leading 20-8, 43-20 and 61-32 at the quarters. Joe Rocca paced the Cyclones with 31. Drew Whitfield led the Thunderbirds with 10. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Smith Falls District Red Hawks clocked the 14th-seeded Belleville Nicholson Catholic Crusaders 47-33. Nicholson led 11-8 after one quarter. Smith Falls led 18-15 at the half and 36-23 after three quarters. Brendan Judd paced the Red Hawks with 13. Ryan Cathcart led the Crusaders with 14. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded London Westminster Wildcats thrashed the 9th-seeded Timmins HVS Blues 61-28. Timmins led 12-11 after one quarter. Westminster led 24-18 at the half and 42-20 after three quarters. Moe Elhalabi paced the Wildcats with 16. Aleks Kravic added 15. Josh Arlauskis led the Blues with 9. Dwayne Gilles added 8. The Blues were held to just two points in the third quarter and 10 in total in the second half. “We got away from the game plan,” said Blues associate coach Peter Graham. “What was talked about at halftime wasn’t implemented in the third quarter. And then, after that, it just started to spiral. Westminster is a good team, but certainly us scoring 10 points is the combination of what they were doing but bigger — more fault — towards us … we weren’t doing the little things that we needed to be doing. We weren’t cutting hard, we weren’t moving the ball or making the defence work.” The Blues led 12-11 lead after the first quarter and trailed just 24-18 at the half. “Certainly, the theme in the first half was turnovers in our half-court offence,” Graham said. “And that is not something that normally is a problem for us. Once we get in the front court, we are usually pretty good about taking care of the ball, but we weren’t making the easy passes to start the offence. To start the game, we got the ball inside and we missed some bunnies (layups). Perhaps a foul could have been called here or there, but we were missing some easy shots. We were getting some offensive rebounds. We were getting two or three chances, but we couldn’t put the ball in. I give Westminster full credit. They are a good team, but we weren’t doing the little things, like making easy passes to start the offence.” …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded host North Bay West Ferris Trojans stomped the 13th-seeded Gloucester Ecole Secondaire Louis-Riel Rebelles 71-52 after leading 20-9, 42-33 and 54-45 at the quarters. Charlie Hancock paced the Trojans with 25, including 19 in the first half. Spencer Brear added 16 and Sam Levac 12. Christian Kadima and John Dorsainvile each scored 16 to lead the Rebelles. The Trojans held off a second-quarter surge from Louis Riel as Charlie Hancock drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the first half. “We could have played a little bit better, but we pretty much carried out the plan perfectly,” said Trojans point guard Joe Puddister, who scored 9. “It’s good for our school, because we haven’t won an OFSAA game in a while. The coaches were happy, the players were happy, everyone played great. We stayed in control and we played good defence. … “Our whole starting five can score 20 points any game, it’s just whoever is on. We’re looking to Charlie for that, but pretty much everyone else can come up big for us, too.” Trojans coach Larry Tougas said the athleticism displayed by Louis Riel early on served as a message for his team to step up and try to play solid defence and force some outside shooting. “Our experience helped us a lot,” Tougas said, noting his team has become comfortable together facing top teams. “We’re used to playing that type of competition. All of our travelling since Grade 7 has paid off for this group of guys — some of these kids have played 60 or 70 games a season, including OBA club games. We’re very comfortable in these types of situations. We sometimes don’t show that locally, for some reason, but our players have a lot of respect for a lot of the good teams and players in this province.” …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Etobicoke Richview Saints whipped the 15th-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders 68-48. The Crusaders led 18-14 after one quarter. The Saints led 33-29 at the half and 51-33 after three quarters. Scott Morrison paced the Saints with 19. Mike Finuro led the Crusaders with 20. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Hamilton Sir Allan McNabb Lions edged the 17th-seeded Thunder Bay Superior Collegiate Gryphons 43-41. The score was knotted at 10 after one quarter. The Lions led 26-19 at the half and 36-27 after three quarters. Othel Watson paced the Lions with 13. Alex Robichaud led the Gryphons with 16. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Sault Ste. Marie St. Basil Saints defeated the 11th-seeded Woodbridge Wyverns 78-70 after leading 21-5, 35-20 and 60-52 at the quarters. Matt Bertolissi paced the Saints with 18. Sam Campana added 18, Mario Bruni 13 and Nick Palazzi 11. Saints coach Lou Mazzuca told the Sault Star that “we got up 20 late in the third and our guys got a little complacent and the other team started hitting some shots (drawing within two in the second half). We pressed and got an eight-point lead in the last four minutes and held them off.” Adam Khan and Tashan Yarde each scored 14 to lead the Wyverns.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The 16th-seeded Toronto Archbishop Romero Raiders clipped the 18th-seeded Orillia Twin Lakes Thunderbirds 59-48 after leading 12-9, 29-17 and 43-30 at the quarters. Yeheaur Fairclough paced the Raiders with 17. Mitch Farrell led the Thunderbirds with 19. …………………………………………………… The 15th-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders dusted the 17th-seeded Thunder Bay Superior Collegiate Gryphons 58-31 after leading 11-6, 28-18 and 45-29 at the quarters. Mike Finuro paced the Crusaders with 25. Matti Paavilainen led the Gryphons with 15. The Gryphons (coached by John Clouthier) also included Noel Parker, Alex Robichaud.
In the third round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix smacked the 16th-seeded Toronto Archbishop Romero Raiders 47-33 after leading 14-11, 31-17 and 43-30 at the quarters. William Olsthoorn led the Phoenix with 18. Benson Kumi paced the Raiders with 9. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Smith Falls District Red Hawks edged the 10th-seeded London Westminster Wildcats 42-39 in overtime. The score was knotted at 11 after one quarter. Smith Falls led 24-20 at the half and 33-29 after three quarters. The teams were tied at 39 after regulation. Vince Dufort paced the Red Hawks with 17. Emerson Franklin led the Wildcats with 13. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Etobicoke Richview Saints defeated the 13th-seeded Gloucester Ecole Secondaire Louis-Riel Rebelles 55-47. Riel led 14-11 after one quarter and 31-24 at the half. The score was knotted at 37 after three quarters. Chevon Brown paced the Saints with 17. Afi Ahmed led the Rebelles with 14. The Rebelles also included Raphael Riche, Christian Kadima, Warsama Youssouf, John Dorsainvil. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Hamilton Sir Allan McNabb Lions stomped the 11th-seeded Woodbridge Wyverns 78-41 after leading 17-8, 38-19 and 55-32 at the quarters. Shaquile Bedminster paced the Lions with 16. Nick Burke added 15. Darnell Landon led the Wyverns with 19. …………………………………………………… The 12th-seeded Kingston Loyalist Lancers stunned the 6th-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders 58-55. Aquinas led 21-18, 29-27 and 39-38 at the quarters. Desmond Adams paced the Lancers with 26. Dan Thompson and Will Coulthard each scored 16 to lead the Raiders. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Sarnia St. Christopher Cyclones survived the 14th-seeded Belleville Nicholson Catholic Crusaders 43-41 after leading 14-12, 28-25 and 41-39 at the quarters. Joe Rocca paced the Cyclones with 14. Sean Barbeau led the Crusaders with 13. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded North Bay West Ferris Trojans dispatched the 9th-seeded Timmins HVS Blues 48-42 after leading 15-7, 28-22 and 37-32 at the quarters. Joey Puddister paced the Trojans with 16, including four treys. Spencer Brear, Sam Levac and Charlie Hancock each added 8. Alex Losier led the Blues with 14. Dwayne Gilles added 9, Correy Wabano 9 and Josh Arlauskis 7. Puddister drained four three-pointers to lead the Trojans’ attack. “We had our chances, but we had some poorly-timed turnovers,” said Blues assistant coach Peter Graham. “We would get within two and then we would turn the ball over and then suddenly they would have a five-point lead, again … that happened twice.” …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Sault Ste. Marie St. Basil Saints crushed the 15th-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders 71-54. Lourdes led 23-15 after one quarter and 34-22 at the half. St. Basil led 49-44 after three quarters. Matt Bertolissi paced the Saints with 20. Sharieff Peru led the Crusaders with 28. The Crusaders also included Joachim Allera, Liam O’Regan, Chris Watson, Mike Finoro, Max Raab, Anthony Joaquim, Lester Fran, Terrick Peru, Jordan Trimble, Mike Vielma, Ben King and Taylor Fraser.
In the quarterfinals, the 8th-seeded Smith Falls District Red Hawks upset the top-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix 45-37 after leading 8-4, 21-20 and 32-26 at the quarters. Vince Dufort paced the Red Hawks with 14. Patrick Pilato led the Phoenix with 14. The Phoenix (coached by Patrick Sullivan, assisted by Patrick O’Leary) also included Mitchell Plata, Michael Pavela, Nicholas Wittig, Cole Cheropita, Connor Dick, Will Olsthoorn, Roland De LaCruz, Keith Makubya, Thomas Lalande, Musse Bille, Josh Rempel and Keegan Dunlop.
The 4th-seeded Etobicoke Richview Saints stomped the 5th-seeded Hamilton Sir Allan McNabb Lions 58-38 after leading 14-6, 32-15 and 48-29 at the quarters. Chevon Brown paced Richview with 18. Daryl Waud led the Lions with 9. The Lions also included Nick Burke, Othel Watson.
The 3rd-seeded Sarnia St. Christopher Cyclones clocked the 12th-seeded Kingston Loyalist Lancers 52-29 after leading 13-3, 33-10, 46-23 and 52-29 at the quarters. Joe Rocca led the Cyclones with 30. Desmond Adams paced the Lancers with 9.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Sault Ste. Marie St. Basil Saints defeated the 7th-seeded North Bay West Ferris Trojans 43-37. The Trojans led 12-9, 22-21 and 32-31 at the quarters. Cole Bertolissi paced the Saints with 12. Charlie Hancock led the Trojans with 18. The game was tied 37-37 with two minutes remaining, before Cole Bertolissi drained two foul shots to give the Saints a two-point cushion. Nick Polazzi went 4-for-4 in the final minute to seal the win. “We’ve played each other twice and we seemed to know each other well and you could see by the score — it was very low-scoring and a very strategic game by both coaches,” said Saints coach Louie Mazzuca. “Larry (Tougas, the Trojans’ head coach) is a great guy, he had a great game plan and it came down to the last minute and could have went either way. I give great credit to his coaching and his team for playing such a great game.” With the Saints leading 39-37 in the final minute, the Trojans had a chance to tie, but Charlie Hancock’s layup from six feet out after driving through traffic bounced off the rim. Polazzi was subsequently fouled and drained both foul shots to essentially nail down the win. “We just kept our composure,” Mazzuca said. “We were behind and they hit some tough shots, but we held in there until the end and we made some foul shots. I think the key at the end was making those foul shots down the stretch.” Bertolissi led the Saints with 12 points, while Polazzi and Mario Bruni each added 11 for the Saints. “We’ve never been to the final four at OFSAA,” Mazzuca said. “This was great for our school and our kids. We’ve worked hard this year. It’s unfortunate that one team had to lose, because these are two great teams.” Tougas said “it came down to a tie game with two minutes left and you have to give them credit — they made their plays at the end and drained their free throws and we didn’t make the plays at the end of the game we needed to. “You have to give them full value — they played well.” Sam Levac added 15 for the Trojans, including a big three-pointer in the fourth quarter that gave the Trojans their final lead. “I told them I was proud of them,” Tougas said. “We haven’t had a lot of success with (St. Basil) and it went right down to the wire. I thought if we could put ourselves in that situation, we’d have a good chance to win, but they are a very poised group and you could tell they’re used to that type of situation. We’ve been in enough games to know that when it’s 37-37 with two minutes left, it could go either way. It just didn’t go our way. But that doesn’t mean any less of our kids. Our kids sold the farm and I’m very proud of them. All that work we did, it paid off — not in terms of the result, but the last time we were a quarter-finalist at OFSAA was 2000 . . . and they were just one step away (from playing for a medal).” The Trojans (coached by Tougas) also included Joe Puddister, Spencer Brear, Sam Levac.
In the semis, the 8th-seeded Smith Falls District Red Hawks edged the 4th-seeded Etobicoke Richview Saints 49-47 after leading 11-9, 23-12 and 31-24 at the quarters. After building a solid 11-point lead by halftime, the Red Hawks played much of the second half without Vince Dufort and Sean McEwen who both fouled out. “They (Richview) came back…and were pressuring us pretty hard. We had a lot of turnovers in that game but we battled hard. It was probably our toughest game because we played without our two best players,” Brandon Wilkinson said. Enter Curtis Onion. The four-year high school basketball veteran played the game of his life, Wilkinson added. For his part, Onion said “our goal at the start of the year was to medal at OFSAA, we were very confident we could still do that. You almost feel like you can’t miss sometimes.” Coach Todd Spencer said “it was an incredible performance or we wouldn’t have even made it to the gold medal game.” Wilkinson sank five free throws down the stretch to pull out the win. Curtis Onion paced the Red Hawks with 21. Vince Dufort added 10, Cal Henderson 6, Brandon Wilkinson 4, Brendan Judd 5, Dish Thompson 1 and Sean McEwen 1. Chevon Brown led the Saints with 19. T’Jani Rutty added 11, Jamal Franklin 7, Patrick Street 5 and Michael Miclea 5.
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Sarnia St. Christopher Cyclones knocked off the 2nd-seeded Sault Ste. Marie St. Basil Saints 56-49 after leading 18-12, 28-23 and 41-29 at the quarters. Joe Rocca paced the Cyclones with 31. Martin Popiel added 8, Eric Mcdonald 7, Zac Liappiatt 6 and Alex DeCarolis 4. Matt Bertolissi paced the Saints with 20. Cole Bertolissi added 14, Nick Palazzi9, Mitch Mazzuca 2, Mario Bruni 2 and Sam Campana 2. Saints coach Lou Mazzuca said Rocca “just went off. We couldn’t contain him. So we had little bit of bad luck there.”
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded Etobicoke Richview Saints clipped the 2nd-seeded Sault Ste. Marie St. Basil Saints 54-46 after leading 19-13, 28-27 and 39-38 at the quarters. Patrick Street paced the Saints with 21. Chevon Brown added 17, T.J. Rutty 9, Jamal Franklin 4 and Michael Miclea 3. Mario Bruni paced St. Basil (coached by Lou Mazzuca) with 15. Matt Bertolissi added 10, Cole Bertolissi 8, Richard Anderson 5, Mitch Mazzuca 4, Nick Palazzi 3 and Sam ‘Jim’ Campana 1. Saints coach Lou Mazzuca told the Sault Star that “it went back and forth. We just couldn’t make shots down the stretch. It could have went either way. And they got a few points and we missed our shots. We just ran out of energy.”
In the final, the 8th-seeded Smith Falls District Red Hawks defeated the 3rd-seeded Sarnia St. Christopher Cyclones 41-38 in overtime. Smith Falls led 15-13 after one quarter. St. Christopher led 23-19 at the half and 25-23 after three quarters. The score was knotted at 34 after regulation play. The Cyclones nailed a trey 90 seconds into the overtime to take the lead but Cal Henderson responded with a critical trey to knot the score. “Vince (Dufort) went to pass me the ball and the guy went for the steal and I ended up being open,” Henderson said. “I even looked at Vince before I shot, I was going to give it back to him, but then I decided to shoot it anyways and it just went in.” That play was a game-changer, Dufort said. “That was huge because everyone was sort of down and he brought us right back. It was great.” With the game tied 37-37 with just 40.4 seconds left, Brandon Wilkinson stepped up to the line and sank a pair of free throws, giving the Red Hawks their second lead since early in the second quarter. “That’s why I go in at the end of the game, to shoot free throws,” Wilkinson said. “Everyone was so confident in me. Cal (Henderson) came up to me and said ‘You’ve got this, it’s not going to be a problem’. I walk up and I shoot the first free throw and Vince just gives me a look like ‘You’ve got this’. Everybody’s support made it a lot easier.” Now up 39-37, it took two more strong defensive stands in the dying seconds to secure the victory. St. Christopher closed to within a single point off a free throw with 30.2 seconds remaining but tough defence pulled out the win for Smith Falls. Dischaine Thompson, a thorn in the Cyclones’ side throughout the second half and overtime by shutting down the team’s top guard Eric McDonald, put an exclamation point on the championship by sinking a basket at the buzzer off his own missed free throw. Dufort had forced overtime with a clutch 10-footer with three seconds on the clock. “I just improvised and, instant reaction, I just drove to the key and took my own shot and it ended up going in. It’s kind of a broken play.” Earlier in the second half, Dufort also pulled up and dropped a pair of long three-pointers to keep his team in the game. Brendan Judd and Sean McEwen managed to contain the Cyclones’ top offensive threat Joe Rocca. “Brendan had a pretty formidable task,” coach Todd Spencer said. “The he shut down in the championship game was a pretty special player.” The RedHawks fell behind by six in the third quarter before Mitchell Clemmens’ strong defensive play helped set up a key basket midway through the third quarter to pull Smiths Falls back to 25-21. Spencer said rotating in fresh troops every three minutes was instrumental in the win. “I trusted the team so much. That paid off because the guys were fresh. Every kid that went on the floor made a play.” Cal Henderson said winning the title is “just something you’ll never forget. It hasn’t ever happened in Smiths Falls’ basketball team history.” Onion said. “It still really hasn’t kicked in yet.” Dufort noted that “this was my goal through my whole high school career. It’s surreal, it still hasn’t sunk in yet.” Coach Todd Spencer said that he “was overcome with emotion at the end of the game. I’m just so proud of what these guys have accomplished. That one shining moment…you can’t put it into words. … Their resilience and trust in each other are traits that help them win big basketball games. They have passion and skill for the game of basketball, but it’s their sense of team, play and family that bring them to a special level.” Vince Dufort paced Smith Falls with 19. Brendan Judd added 9, Cal Henderson 6, Curtis Onion 2, Dish Thompson 2, Brandon Wilkinson 2 and Sean McEwan 1. Eric McDonald led the Cyclones with 16. Joe Rocca added 11, Mike Rocca 5, Marty Popiel 5 and Zac Lippiatt 1.
The bronze medalist Etobicoke Richview Saints: Scott Morrison; Chevon Brown; T’Jani Rutty; Jamal Franklin; Patrick Street; Michael Miclea;
The silver medalist Sarnia St. Christopher Cyclones: Joe Rocca; Martin Popiel; Eric McDonald; Zac Lippiatt; Alex DeCarolis; Mike Rocca; Dan Moore; Mark Spinozzi; Owen Osinde; Rodney Reese; Logan Savage; Austin Spearman; Jeremy Harris;
The gold medalist Smith Falls District Red Hawks: Brendan Judd; Vince Dufort; Curtis Onion; Cal Henderson; Brandon Wilkinson; Dischaine Thompson; Sean McEwen; Paul Hicks; Mitchell Clemmens; Nick McGonegal; coach Todd Spencer