In the opening, seeding round, held in St. Catharines: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Windsor John L. Forster Spartans clocked the 12th-seeded Orleans St. Matthew Tigers 86-64 after leading 20-16, 42-32 and 61-41 at the quarters. William Laracaston paced the Spartans with 25. Jermaine Lynch added 18 and DeAndre Brown 11. Mike Black paced the Tigers with 17. Mack Wakefield added 15 and Keonte Mouaga 13. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Smith Falls District Collegiate Redhawks defeated the 16th-seeded Toronto Bishop F. Marrocco/T. Merton Royals 57-51. The score was knotted at 12 after one quarter. The Royals led 30-29 at the half. The Redhawks led 57-51 after three quarters. Cal Henderson led the Redhawks with 29. Curtis Onion added 14. Johnathan Layne led the Royals with 32. Kahleel Walker added 15. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix stomped the 18th-seeded Fort Frances Muskies 69-30 after leading 20-10, 40-19 and 58-26 at the quarters. “It was nice to get the jitters out,” Phoenix coach Pat Sullivan said. “We’ve been waiting over a week to play this game and the anticipation of playing at home probably had the guys at a fever pitch.” St. Francis started slowly, leading 11-10 after six minutes, before scoring the final nine points of the first quarter and never looking back. “We came out hard and we made some mistakes defensively just because we’re over-anxious. We see opportunities and don’t have the patience to let it play itself out,” Sullivan said. Pat Pilato paced the Phoenix with 31. Adam Vassalo added 15 and Thomas Lalande 10. Will Anderson led the Muskies with 12. Lewis Linklater added 10. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Timmins Blues edged the 14th-seed Perth District Blue Devils 38-35. The score was knotted at 9 after one quarter. The Blue Devils led 19-18 at the half. The score was tied at 32 after three quarters. Tim Andrews led the Blues with 17. Alex Losier added 11. Pavit Thind paced the Blue Devils with 14. Eli Woods added 11. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Orillia Twin Lakes Thunderbirds stunned the 5th-seeded Oshawa G.L. Roberts Lakers 61-50 after leading 19-14, 32-28 and 50-43 at the quarters. Mitch Farrell paced the Thunderbirds with 30. Sean Clendinning added 15. Tyler Charles led the Lakers with 20. Travis Gingras added 16. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Belleville Nicholson Crusaders clocked the 13th-seeded Stratford St. Michael Warriors 48-33 after leading 9-6, 22-11 and 37-22 at the quarters. “They had us very well-scouted,” said Warriors head coach Tim Doherty. “They had probably the best man-to-man defence we’ve faced all year. We got it going a bit in the second half, but not enough. And they did a great job shutting down Tyler (Wesche) and Anthony (Stott).” Taylor Boers paced the Crusaders with 16. Carter Maschi added 13. Andre O’Malley led the Warriors with 10. …………………………………………………… The 15th-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders stunned the 4th-seeded Hamilton Ecole Secondaire Academie Catholique Mere-Teresa Jaguars 54-45. Les Jaguars led 10-8 after one quarter. The Crusaders led 27-22 at the half and 38-37 after three quarters. Sharieff Peru paced the Crusaders with 28. Michael Finoro added 10. Jean-Victor Mukama led the Jaguars with 14. Nickan Sahlollbey added 10. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Toronto Vaughan Road Vipers dumped the 17th-seeded Niagara Falls Westlane Spartans 52-42 after leading 15-14, 29-21 and 38-36 at the quarters. Too many turnovers and missed opportunities proved the difference, said Westlane coach Marty Mancuso. “We missed five or six lay ups, which I think was the difference in the game. We had easy opportunities we just didn’t capitalize on and we turned the ball over at critical moments. The effort was there. I thought we played very well at times. But their pressure wore us down.” Andrej Kosevic scored 11 straight points in the third quarter to temporarily take his team into the lead. But that’s when Vaughan Road’s Johneil Simpson took command, scoring 17 second-half points. “They’re a deeper team, better defensively,” 18-year-old Kosevic said of Vaughan Road. “We didn’t make the free throws and the lay ups we needed to, but it was a good battle.” Johneil Simpson paced the Vipers with 29. Brandon John added 10. Andrej Kosevic led the Spartans with 18. Aleksander Miljenovic added 10. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Sault Ste. Marie St. Basil Saints edged the 11th-seeded Essex District Red Raiders 44-43 after leading 19-7, 20-14 and 26-24 at the quarters. “It was 44-40 and with three seconds left they hit a running three (point shot) to make it 44-43,” said Saints head coach Lou Mazzuca. “It was a win. We didn’t play well.” The Saints started off strong but got sloppy in the second half, he said. “We weren’t shooting the ball very well. We shot two for 28 from the three-point range.” Mario Bruni paced the Saints with 11. Mitchell Mazzuca added 10. Justin Orton led the Red Raiders with 12.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The 16th-seeded Toronto Bishop F. Marrocco/T. Merton Royals stomped the 18th-seeded Fort Frances Muskies 71-39 after leading 20-7, 37-16 and 59-23 at the quarters. The Muskies (coached by Bryce Coyle) included Tim Metke, Gavin Moorhouse, Zach Jolicoeur, Colton Craig, Cole Edwards, Lewis Linklater, Caleb McIntosh, Will Anderson, Aric Chapman, Braedon Caul and Alex Hedman. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Hamilton Ecole Secondaire Academie Catholique Mere-Teresa Jaguars clipped the 17th-seeded Niagara Falls Westlane Spartans 55-46 after leading 15-10, 31-20 and 42-37 at the quarters. Emmanuel Makuna paced the Jaguars with 18. Jean-Victor Mukama added 16. Aleksander Miljenovic led the Spartans with 15. Andrej Kosevic added 13. The Spartans (coached by Marty Mancuso, assisted by Nenad Srdjenovic and Jamie Coull) also included Wilson Birch, Christian Carvajal, Milosh Copic, Mohammad Farhan, Nikola Gajic, Bojan Mandic, Jordon Maxim and Milan Stegnjaic.
In the third round: …………………………………………………… The 12th-seeded Orleans St. Matthew Tigers whipped the 6th-seeded Smith Falls District Redhawks 49-33 after leading 11-6, 23-15 and 34-22 at the quarters. Mack Wakefield and Seb Mangan each scored 15 to pace the Tigers. Curtis Onion led the Redhawks with 11. The Redhawks (coached by Todd Spencer, assisted by Eric Lapierre) also included Dischaine Thompson, Cal Henderson, Mitchell Clemmends, Nick McGonegal, Sashakt Tyagi, Turner Onion, Sam Dickson, Jeremy Judd, Garrett Closs and Nick Pilon. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix defeated the 14th-seeded Perth District Blue Devils 27-7 after leading 11-3, 19-3 and 27-5 at the quarters. Thomas Lalande and Adam Vassallo each scored 10 to pace the Phoenix. The Blue Devils (coached by Kevin Bellamy, assisted by Jackson Bannon) included Alexander Fillipoff, Eli Woods, Shayne Armstrong, Mitchell Crain, Kurtis James, Chris Popplewell, Tommy Somerville, Turner Sutton and Pavit Thind. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Orillia Twin Lakes Thunderbirds stomped the 8th-seeded Timmins Blues 84-35 after leading 32-4, 50-19 and 72-28 at the quarters. Mitch Farrell led the Thunderbirds with 34. Jacob Clendinning added 16. Alex Losier paced the Blues with 16. The Blues (coached by Peter Graham, assisted by Craig William Beda and Darrell Sokoloski) also included Corey Paquette, Tim Andrews, Michael Beda, Ben Joron, Ben Andrews, Tyson Malo, Skylar Arlauskis-Theriault, Adrian Delaney-Selman, Kyle Edwards, Felix Denomme, Zachary Norman, Jordan Yee, Scott McDowell and Zack Midha. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Belleville Nicholson Crusaders edged the 9th-seeded Oshawa G.L. Roberts Lakers 36-33. The Crusaders led 13-5 after one quarter and 25-13 at the half. The score was knotted at 28 after three quarters. Taylor Boers led the Crusaders with 15. Tyler Charles paced the Lakers with 15. The Lakers (coached by John Pfeifer and Paul Dunn) also included Shacqueal Blagrove, Gregory Cutler, Travis Gingras, Jeremy Musseau-Drover, Kyle Watson, Omari Johnson-Hopkinson, Daryl Talbot, Jermaine McDonald, Marc-Anthony Small, Trestan Williams and Cameron James-Hughes. …………………………………………………… The 15th-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders dumped the 13th-seeded Stratford St. Michael Warriors 65-60 in overtime after leading 13-9, 31-27 and 38-35 at the quarters. “We had a great end of the third quarter and start of the fourth, but they hit back-to-back threes, turned us over a couple of times with their press and tied it with 25 seconds to go,” St. Mike’s coach Tim Doherty said. “Tyler had a good look with about nine seconds left, but it wouldn’t go in. We played two really tough teams here that in my mind were underseeded. That Lourdes team is not a 15 seed.” Michael Finoro paced the Crusaders with 23. Sharieff Peru added 22. Tyler Wesche led the Warriors with 22. Anthony Stott added 16. The Warriors (coached by Tim Doherty, assisted by Melissa Kobe and Peter Strauss) also included Breen Wilkinson, Ben Denham, Kyle Frey, Andrew O’Malley, Cameron Scott, Neil Van De Walle, Lucas Culliton, Daniel Gee, John Liotta, Caleb Macdonald and Jonas MacDonald. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Toronto Vaughan Road Vipers defeated the 11th-seeded Essex District Red Raiders 61-54. The Vipers led 20-16 after one quarter. The Red Raiders led 33-30 at the half. The Vipers led 47-42 after three quarters. Johneil Simpson paced the Vipers with 35. Alex Dawkins added 10. Justin Ortin led the Red Raiders with 12. The Red Raiders (coached by David Harrison, assisted by Joe Amicarelli) also included Josh Prodan, Mitchell Tavierne, Jacob Prodan, Johnston Armstrong, Cameron Branch, Joshua Dame, Joshua Davison, Christopher Drouillard, Amari Ellsworth, Ryan Ellsworth and Jeremy Orton. …………………………………………………… The 16th-seeded Toronto Bishop F. Marrocco/T. Merton Royals stunned the top-seeded Windsor John L. Forster Spartans 57-55. The Spartans led 15-9 after one quarter. The Royals led 30-26 at the half. The score was knotted at 40 after three quarters. Johnathan Layne led the Royals with 24. Kahleel Walker added 16. William Laracaston paced the Spartans with 22. Jermaine Lynch added 12. The Spartans (coached by Pat Osborne, assisted by Mike Harrington) also included David McDuffie, DeAndre Brown, Habib Haidar, Isiah Osborne, Ray Dennie, Ameed Shaikh, Munis Tutu, Juwan Lynch and Deya Fawaz. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Hamilton Ecole Secondaire Academie Catholique Mere-Teresa Jaguars clubbed the 2nd-seeded Sault Ste. Marie St. Basil Saints 60-48. The Jaguars led 10-7 after one quarter. The score was knotted at 21 at the half. The Jaguars led 44-35 after three quarters. The Saints (coached by Louie Mazzuca, assisted by Kellan Stilin, Andrew King and Richard Majic) included Mario Bruni, Nicholas Palazzi, Daniel Scarpino, Darcy Botterill, Giuseppe Bruni, Jacob Creedon, Mitchell Mazzuca, Ryan Pettenuzzo, Richard Anderson, Cole Bertolissi, Justin Bertolissi, Marlon Imasogie, David McLean and Rob Collins.
In the quarterfinals, the 5th-seeded Toronto Vaughan Road Vipers dispatched the 15th-seeded Guelph Our Lady of Lourdes Crusaders 72-56 after leading 21-9, 40-21 and 57-40 at the quarters. Johneil Simpson paced the Vipers with 21. Brandon John added 16, Alex Dawkins 13 and Rakim McFarlane 12. Sharieff Peru led the Crusaders with 22. Michael Finoro added 12. The Crusaders (coached by Scott Robinson, assisted by Marion Reidel and Mike O’Rourke) also included Maximillian Raab, Anthony Joaquim, Terrick Peru, Chris Watson, Liam O’Regan, Jordan Trimble, Joachim Allera, Ben King, Evan McLaughlin, Andrew Chapman, Kevin Roche, Stephen Gade, Taylor Fraser and Ryan Bilodeau.
The 3rd-seeded St. Catharines St. Frances Phoenix defeated the 12th-seeded Orleans St. Matthew Tigers 68-60. The Tigers led 13-9 after one quarter. The Phoenix led 27-24 at the half and 43-34 after three quarters. Pat Pilato paced the Phoenix with 34. Cole Cheropita added 11. Keonte Mouaga led the Tigers with 16. Sebastian Mangan added 14 and Ben Rozman 13. The Tigers (coached by Jason Wren, assisted by Christopher Wakefield) also included Daryo Cummins, Mack Wakefield, Sammy Zacharais, Francis Kazadi, Matt Dunham, Muko Wandji, Andrew Bayne, Trill Clarke, Mike Black and Peter Thomas.
The 16th-seeded Toronto Bishop F. Marrocco/T. Merton Royals stomped the 10th-seeded Orillia Twin Lakes Thunderbirds 68-49 after leading 10-6, 28-14 and 50-31 at the quarters. Johnathan Layne paced the Royals with 44. Ricardo Aureliyo added 12. Mitch Farrell led the Thunderbirds with 22. Sean Clendinning added 12. The Thunderbirds (coached by Don Rodney, assisted by Chris Lowery) also included Drew Whitfield, Joshua Wareing, Josh Fox, Jeff Haywood, Zachary Buchan, Michael Sillaby, Jake Buchan, Jacob Clendinning, Jack Finlayson and Conner Jackson.
In the last quarterfinal, the 4th-seeded Hamilton Ecole Secondaire Catholique Mere-Teresa Jaguars edged the 7th-seeded Belleville Nicholson Crusaders 42-40 after leading 15-8, 26-22 and 37-31 at the quarters. The Crusaders (coached by Jim Barbeau, assisted by Nick DiTomaso and Tim Helferty) included Bryson Asselstine, Devon Hicks, Ryan Cathcart, Taylor Boers, Raven Peller, Jean-Philippe St-Laurent, Carter Maschi, Jimmy Hamilton, Hayden Seemungal, Joe Kehoe, Jack Goyer, Davis Maschi, Jake Brak and Brody Cavanaugh.
In the semis, the 5th-seeded Toronto Vaughan Road Vipers defeated the 16th-seeded Toronto Bishop F. Marrocco/T. Merton Royals 74-62 after leading 37-36 at the half. Johneil Simpson paced the Vipers with 24. Brandon John added 16 and Alex Dawkins 15. Johnathan Layne led the Royals with 38. Khaleel Walker added 13.
In the other semi, the 4th-seeded medalist Hamilton Ecole Secondaire Academie Catholique Mere-Teresa Jaguars defeated the 3rd-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix 68-57. The Phoenix led 18-10 after one quarter. But the Jaguars hit six straight treys, including three straight trips down the floor that turned a 22-19 deficit into a 28-22 lead. St. Francis cut the lead to 43-35 halfway through the third quarter but the Jaguars roared back to lead 55-43 going into the final quarter. The Phoenix cut the lead to 61-54 with 2:16 left, but the Jaguars hung on for the win. “They just shot the ball a little too well in the first half,” Phoenix coach Pat Sullivan said. “They hit 10 threes (in the game) and one guy we hadn’t seen in the tournament hit three threes. Gaddiel Kienansatuko paced the Jaguars with 13. Steven Musungayi added 11 and Emmanuel Mukana 6. Patrick Pilato led the Phoenix with 16. Cole Cheropita added 15 and Thomas Lalande 10.
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix dumped the 16th-seeded Toronto Bishop F. Marrocco/T. Merton Royals 57-44 after leading 14-5, 26-21 and 42-34 at the quarters. “We’re disappointed that we weren’t in the gold medal game, but our kids wanted to finish on a high,” said Phoenix coach Pat Sullivan. With Mitch Plata, Mike Pavela and Cole Cheropita playing their final game in a St. Francis uniform, finishing strong was important. “We were looking forward to playing in the championship game all year so we weren’t as excited about playing in this game,” said Patrick Pilato. “As soon as we started playing and got a feel for the game, we got into it.” The Royals tied the game 17-17 halfway through the second quarter before the Phoenix rallied to take a 26-21 lead into half-time. With St. Francis leading 26-22 less than one minute into the third quarter, Pilato took over and hit four straight three-pointers to give his team a 38-26 lead. The Royals called a time-out and as their players came to the bench, their body language made it clear they felt the game was over. St. Francis led 42-34 going into the final quarter and the Royals never threatened. “The calls weren’t going my way so I had to sit the whole first half,” Pilato said of his three early fouls. “When I got in the game in the third quarter, I just let it go.” Pilato had struggled through the tournament with his shot, Sullivan said. “He compensated by taking the ball to the basket but he never did find his stroke. He found it in this game, for sure, and that’s the way he’s capable of shooting.” Pat Pilato paced the Phoenix with 27. Connor Dick added 10. Johnathan Layne led the Royals with 27. Hezron Bartholomew added 6. The Royals (coached by Chester Morgan and Omar Simpson, assisted by David Otten) also included Oliver De Olivera, Kahleel Walker, Jonah De Leon, Yannick Kabongo, Todd Williams, Ricardo Aureliyo and Koby McEwen.
In the final, the 5th-seeded Toronto Vaughan Road Vipers clipped the 4th-seeded Hamilton Ecole Secondaire Academie Catholique Mere-Teresa Jaguars 73-58 after leading 23-11 after one quarter and 46-23 at the half. “You can’t afford not to show up when you play up,” said a disappointed AMCT coach Martin Vaillancourt. “When you play at your level, sometimes you can get away with it. When you tackle a higher level there is no room for mistakes like that.” Vaughan Road took an early double-digit lead and romped. “They came out and they hit some good shots,” said Vaillancourt. “They rattled us and we never really recovered. Some of my key players never really got going. When you play up, you can’t have that. … We had a great run. It’s still the championship game at OFSAA. It’s was great season. … When you get to a championship like this, it’s just like playoffs at school. The playoffs are different. The players that were there before, they know it. For some kids it’s overwhelming. I’m proud of this group of kids and what they accomplished this year.” Johneil Simpson paced the Vipers with 30. Brandon John added 23. Steven Musungayi paced the Jaguars with 16. Hamid Nassek added 14.
The bronze medalist St. Catharines St. Francis Phoenix: Pat Pilato; Adam Vassalo; Cole Cheropita; Thomas Lalande; Connor Dick; Michael Pavela; Mitchell Plata; Roland De la Cruz; Nicholas Wittig; Antonio Valvano; Michael Beam; Alan Florez; Edward Hollingworth; coach Patrick Sullivan; assistant Patrick O’Leary; assistant Wade Pychel
The silver medalist Hamilton Ecole Secondaire Academie Catholique Mere-Teresa Jaguars: Jean-Victor Mukama; Nickan Sahlollbey; Emmanuel Makuna; Gaddiel Kienansatuko; Steven Musungayi; Hamid Nassek; Moussa Taguina; Donnel Brey Sebeya-Shingiro; Jonathan Amisso; Greg Davies; Abdourahme Diallo; Sebastien Chapman; Junior Moaku-Matia; Alex Davies; Levi Mukuna; coach Martin Vaillancourt; assistant Kenold Knight; assistant Andre Smith; assistant Vincent Charbonneau; assistant Bob Croft
The champion Toronto Vaughan Road Vipers: Johneil Simpson; Brandon John; Alex Dawkins; Andre Harriot; Rakim McFarlane; Shakir Briscoe; Junior Ealouis; Miroslav Brkovic; Mike Jonathan; Lance Rodriques; Eddie Huband; Rakiel Odulate; Shemar Douglas; Nicholas Cross; coach Wilton Hall; assistant Fred Budnik; assistant Rochelle Noble; assistant Yusuf Ali; assistant James Dejazmatch