In the opening round, held in Hamilton: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints clipped the 12th-seeded Guelph Centennial Spartans 76-58 as Juleous Grant and Chretien Lukusa each scored 17. Jon House led the Spartans with 21. Alex Koscher added 11. “They’re a real good team,” Centennial coach Rob Conroy told the Guelph Mercury. “They’ve got three kids on the junior national team and they’ve got a whole slew of players on the bench. They just put so much pressure on you on defence and as soon as you make a mistake it’s a layup down at the other end of the floor. I think we just ran out of gas. It was 20-17 after the first quarter and we were down by 12 at the half, so overall, I’m really happy with the way we played. … I’m really proud of our kids. They didn’t give up. They could have rolled over but they didn’t, they battled to the end.” The Saints led by as many as 29. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Hamilton Cathedral Gaels stomped the 16th-seeded Toronto St. Michael’s Blue Raiders 97-50 as Tyrone Watson scored 19, Arny N’Kindu 13 and Decee Krah 12. Evaldas Zabas led the Blue Raiders with 28. Krah hit a trio of threes to open the affair and the Gales romped. “We depend on defence and transition but we hit some shots early and fed off it,” Gaels’ coach Mark Daly told the Hamilton Spectator. The Gaels led 33-10, 53-22 and 75-38 at the quarters. “It’s OFSAA. We’re at home. It’s time to step up and make shots,” said Krah. “They’re a good team but we all of us came ready to play. It was a good situation. We had a chance to rest our starters. Five games in three days is tough, but we have so many good players we can go 12-deep and still bring it.” …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Ajax Pickering Trojans annihilated the 18th-seeded Barrie Bear Creek Secondary Kodiaks 91-33 as Harouna Mutumbo scored 19 and Cory Joseph 12. Kyle Graves led the Kodiaks with 7. Jordan Widdicki added 6. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Toronto Emery Collegiate Institute Eagles dumped the 14th-seeded Ottawa Sir Robert Borden Bengals 53-40 as Dane Baugh scored 18 and Jason Blackwood 13. Kevin Rogers led the Bengals with 9. Chris Ossa added 8. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded London H.B. Beal Raiders whipped the 10th-seeded Scarborough Blessed Mother Theresa Titans 68-48 as Arnold Mayorga scored 20, Enrico Diloreto 17 and Adam Jesperson 12, along with 16 boards. Ashton Khan led the Titans with 12. Romain Lawrence added 8 and Jason Miller 8. Beal coach Tony Marcotullio took time away from his ailing parent’s bedside to guide the Raiders. “I kept second-guessing myself for being here but my parents would have wanted it and I’m glad I was here for this game,” Marcotullio told the Toronto Star. Jesperson said “we’re family, when our coaches are hurting, so are we and one way we can try make things easier for a bit is to get the job done. This was my first game at OFSAA but we all knew we had to play this one for the coach.” Titans coach Richard Gallacher said “we were 1-for-13 from the three-point line, their big guys beat our big guys and our pattern of having a lousy third quarter continued.” …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Hamilton St. Thomas More Knights dumped the 13th-seeded Waterloo Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders 60-43 as Tyrell Vernon scored 22, Ben Ford 14 and Victor Raso 7. Tuan Do led the Highlanders with 13. Justin Thomas added 11 and Murphy Burnatowski 10. The Knights led 16-12 after one quarter and ripped off a 16-2 run to take a 34-20 lead at the half. “The slow start was rust, not playing for two weeks,” Knights’ guard Tyrell Vernon. “After that we started playing well. … This is our house. This is OFSAA. This is the biggest time of the year and this is my last go-round, so I want to leave everything on the floor. There’s no reason not to leave it all on the floor.” …………………………………………………… The 15th-seeded Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish edged the 4th-seeded Brampton St. Marguerite D’Youville Catholic Gators 49-47 as Jordan Hajdu scored 17 and Dustin Degazio 16. Degazio told the Hamilton Spectator that “we played the best ball we’ve ever played and a lot of us have been together five years. The last time we played D’Youville, we lost by five and were without two starters. We knew we could play with them if we played our game.” Yenell Clayton led the Gators with 11. Tristan Thompson added 10. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Mississauga Father Michael Goetz Gators stomped the 17th-seeded LaSalle Sandwich Secondary Sabres 76-50 as Cory Cooper scored 21, David Tyndale 16 and Henoc Muamba 12. Vushann Landrum led the Sabres with 16. Bradley Fuchesato added 8 and Jeremy Brockman 7. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Rexdale Father Henry Carr Crusaders dumped the 11th-seeded Newmarket Sacred Heart Crusaders 85-70 as Curtis Trotter scored 31, Rodel Grenaway 14 and Yonas Berhe 14. Ben Garvin led the Crusaders with 20. Alex Arthur added 13 and Scott Laws 12.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The 16th-seeded Toronto St. Michael Blue Raiders defeated 18th-seeded Barrie Bear Creek Secondary Kodiaks 63-52 as Evaldas Zabas scored 49 and Matt Taylor 6. Kyle Graves led the Kodiaks with 18. Nolan Knill added 12. The Kodiaks (coached by Matt Dawson, assisted by Paul Hopper) also included Jordan Vig, Jordan Widdicks, Joe Tanti, Cam Hodinott, Willem Steyn, Jason Switzer, Cody Hache, Chris Currie, Brandon Vig, Harold Rehano and James Jordan. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Brampton St. Marguerite D’Youville Catholic Gators crushed the 17th-seed LaSalle Sandwich Secondary Sabres 70-48 as Yenell Clayton scored 14, Warren Ward 13 and Kanran Alvi 10. Ryan Wood paced the Sabres with 16. The Sabres (coached by Andre Graovac, assisted by Chris Shaw) also included Jeremy Brockman, Milan Dobric, Vushaun Landrum, Samuel Milian, Roderick Cohen, Ryan Langlois, Fabrice Kalisa, Bradley Fochesato, Corey Ing, Michael Graovac and Bradley Adams.
In the third round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints dusted the 16th-seeded Toronto St. Michael’s Blue Raiders 81-57 as James Clark scored 13, Keaton Cole 12 and Chretien Lukusa 10. Evaldas Zabas led the Blue Raiders with 45. Rainier Croft added 10. The Blue Raiders (coached by Jeff Zownir) also included Brad Bach, John Blanford, Jesse Clarke, Aaron DeSouza, Nick DeSouza, Justin Edwin, Justin Leung, Neil Mathieson, Chris Rosetti, Jeremy Sin and Matt Taylor. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Toronto Emery Collegiate Eagles crushed the 9th-seeded London H.B. Beal Raiders 60-37 as Carlyle Francis scored 15, Jason Blackwood 12 and Kadeem Francis 10. Adam Jesperson paced the Raiders with 12. Arnold Mayorga added 10. The Raiders (coached by Tony Marcotullio, assisted by Mike Dixon and Chris Edwards) also included Kyle McConnell, John Wold, Brad Young, Dave Otterbein, Bryse Chandler, Alistair Mohice, Enrico DiLoreto, Naseer Kha, Josh DiLoreto, Mike Dubreuil, Trey Langford, Nathan DiLoreto and Trent Roberts. …………………………………………………… The 13th-seeded Waterloo Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders dumped the 15th-seeded Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish 62-47 as Murphy Burnatowski scored 13, Tim Lyons 9 and Taylor Allan 9. Cedric Kasongo led the Irish with 16. Josh Snider added 9 and Dustin Degazio 7. The Fighting Irish (coached by Mike Rao) also included David Webb, Jordan Hajdu, Matt Dicenso, Parfait Lokole, Grace Lokole, Tyler Warren, Anto Raic, Kyle Mataya, Jacob Hardy, Arthur Nsenga, Ronald Angervil and Christian Calderon. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Mississauga Father Michael Goetz Gators edged the 11th-seeded Newmarket Sacred Heart Crusaders 66-62 as Henoc Muamba and David Tyndale each scored 15. Ben Garvin led the Crusaders with 14. Dan Bannister added 13. The Crusaders (coached by Patrick Au, assisted by Mike Woodrow and Kevin Mitchell) also included Alex Arthur, Chris Bergin, Evan Clavir, Andrew Evershed, Jake Elliopoulos, Scott Laws, Malcolm Ransey, Lucas Rooney, Ryan Sellan and Matt West. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Hamilton Cathedral Golden Gaels dumped the 12th-seeded Guelph Centennial Spartans 73-52 as Tyrone Watson scored 15, Jeremie Kayeye 12 and Kyle Mayers 10. Adrian Achonwa paced the Spartans with 14. Dan McCarthy added 13. The Spartans (coached by Rob Conroy, assisted by John Mitchell) also included Daniel Bolton, Alex Koscher, Mike Bratusa, Jonathan House, Justin Wolting, Edward Doney, Alex Ricci, Daniel Nasso, Troy Cox, Josh Cote, Evan Schwantz, Robert House and Jay Francis. The Golden Gaels broke open a 12-12 tie by shifting to a full-court press and building a double-digit lead at the half. “This is the best team to ever come out of Centennial,” Spartans coach Rob Conroy told the Guelph Mercury. “I couldn’t be prouder of our guys. It was a great year. Every time Jon got the ball, they ran two guys at him,” the Centennial coach said. “We ask a lot of Jon. We ask him to be our top scorer, top rebounder, bring the ball up the floor and guard their top scorer. By halftime he’s exhausted. … The biggest difference is depth. We seem to be able to stay with these teams for a little while, but they just keep running guys out there off the bench and I don’t have that luxury.” …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Ajax Pickering Trojans stomped the 14th-seeded Ottawa Sir Robert Borden Bengals 72-17 as Devoe Joseph scored 16, Harouna Mutumbo 15 and Cory Joseph 14. Bojan Dodik paced the Bengals with 6. The Bengals scored a ghastly five points in the first half, while relinquishing 42. The Bengals (coached by Dan Case, assisted by Pat Kirkham) also included Maksim Apelfeld, Sasa Arnautovic, Jon Bain, Bradley Ellison, Ben Francis, Chris Francis, Waseem Husainy, Troy Kenny, Eitan Maoz, Ben Mitchell, Hugh Morgan, Chris Ossa, Kevin Rogers, Josh Schachter, Christoph Trauttsmandorff, Njuguna Waiganjo and Jason Wang. ………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Hamilton St. Thomas More Knights whipped the 10th-seeded Scarborough Blessed Mother Theresa Titans 66-46 as Tyrell Vernon scored 21, Ben Ford 19 and Jeremy Settimi 18. Romane Lawrence led the Titans with 9. Ryan Walker added 9. The Titans (coached by Gallacher and Burrows) also included Alex Mallari, Gael Kanza, Jeff Rou-Mamic, Chris East, Jordan Johnson-Hinds, Jason Miller, Andrew Melbourne, Onnex Blackwood and Akeem Isaac-Phillips. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Rexdale Father Henry Carr Crusaders nipped the 4th-seeded Brampton St. Marguerite D’Youville Catholic Gators 50-49. The Gators (coached by Carlo Zoffranieri, assisted by Bruno Berto and Rob Buchanan) included Tony Duran, Akeem Gardner, Kofi Ankoma-Mensa, Warren Ward, Gibson Eduful, Kemeish Edwards, Jose Garcia, Kamran Alvi, Vik Sehgal, Xavier Marias and Dennis Oppong.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints edged the 8th-seeded Toronto Emery Collegiate Eagles 75-72 as Alwayne Bigby scored 20, Chretien Lukusa 16 and Keaton Cole 13. Jason Blackwood and Jerome Guthrie each scored 17 to lead the Eagles. Carlyle Francis added 15 and Dane Baugh 8. The Eagles (coached by Bob Maydo, assisted by Justin Antonio and Andrew Vallejo) also included Dwayne Brown, Keigel Campbell, Kadeem Francis, Augustine Obeng, Michael Obeng, Anthony Ottley, Tyrone Solomon, Deneil Williams, Steven Williams, Khalid Wilson and Mohamed Yusuf.
The 13th-seeded Waterloo Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders nipped the 5th-seeded Mississauga Father Michael Goetz Gators 64-62 as Justin Thomas scored 27 and Taylor Allan 18. Andrew Nicholson led the Gators with 19. David Tyndale added 15. The Gators (coached by Ray Kulig, assisted by Amir Morgan) also included Allen Anderson, Cory Cooper, Akeam Craig, Robert Hanson, Karim Kahlil, Serge Leshchuk, Henoc Muamba, Rieko Ruach and Joseph Tubbs.
The 3rd-seeded Ajax Pickering Trojans crushed the 6th-seeded Hamilton Cathedral Gaels 73-46 as Devoe Joseph scored 26, Jonathan Tull 9 and Cory Joseph 9. The Trojans led 2-18, 37-14 and 60-27 at the quarters. Arny N’Kindu led the Gaels with 12. Tyrone Watson added 10. Gaels coach Mark Daly told the Hamilton Spectator that “it wasn’t what we had planned. They scored on their first five or six possessions. We were playing a team where things have to go our way and they came out on fire. He (Devoe Joseph) is a great player. A big time player. I thought we were fast but they were faster.” The Gaels (coached by Mark Daly, assisted by Brian Daly) also included Mike Barr, Matt Cupido, Ejkow Fynn, Dwayne Harvey, Jeremie Kayeye, Decee Krah, Wolo Krah, Kyle Mayers, Matt O’Grady, Alex Reis, Dhonn Ronquillo and Robert Smith.
The 2nd-seeded Rexdale Father Henry Carr Crusaders defeated the 7th-seeded Hamilton St. Thomas More Knights 63-53 as Curtis Trotter scored 21 and Rodel Grenaway 12. The Crusaders led 14-8, 29-20 and 43-32 at the quarters. Tyrell Vernon paced the Knights with 18. Jeremie Settimi added 17. Settimi told the Hamilton Spectator that “the shots just didn’t go in for us. We tried our hardest. They just didn’t drop.” The Knights (coached by Mark Kislinsky and Tom Spironello) also included James Gordon, Ben Ford, Peter Luchesi, Josh Bennett, Patrick Iavarone, Italo Conciatori, David Boyce, Jeff Lloyd, Victor Raso, Jerome Smith and Ryan Christie.
In the semis, the top-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints dumped the 13th-seeded Waterloo Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders 66-56 as Marvin Binney scored 14, Tyler Murray 13, Alwayne Bigby 10, Chretien Lukusa 9, Juleous Grant 6 and Keaton Cole 5. Justin Tomas led the Highlanders with 19. Taylor Allan added 12, Murphy Burnatowski 10, Keith Stinson 5 and Bashir Moallim 5.
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Ajax Pickering Trojans edged the 2nd-seeded Rexdale Father Henry Carr Crusaders 58-57 as Devoe Joseph scored 20, Harouna Mutumbo 18, Sephton Spence 8, Cory Joseph 6, Justin Wiltshire 2 and Jonathan Tull 2. Dominique Brown paced the Crusaders with 15. Rodel Grenaway added 13, Curtis Trotter 11, Ricky Dunkley 11 and Yonas Berhe 7. Pickering built up a 48-34 lead after three quarters in the semi against Carr, and was outscored 23-10 in the final frame to escape with a one-point victory.
In the bronze medal match, the 2nd-seeded Rexdale Father Henry Carr Crusaders dumped the 13th-seeded Waterloo Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders 55-48 as Curtis Trotter scored 17, Dominique Brown 16, Yonas Berhe 10 and Ricky Dunkley 6. Taylor Allan led the Highlanders with 17. Justin Tomas added 15, Murphy Burnatowski 7 and Michael Helsby 6. The Highlanders (coached by Steve Maloney, assisted by Joe King and Chris Price) also included Bashir Moallim, Keith Stinson, Tuan Do, Tim Lyons, Theron Williamson, Djordje Gavrilovic, Dejan Stajic, Dave Martin and Navroz Baloo.
In the final, the 3rd-seeded Ajax Pickering Trojans upset the top-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints 52-47 as Devoe Joseph scored 25 and Harouna Mutumbo 15. James Clark paced the Saints with 12. Chretien Lukasa added 10, Alwayne Bigby 9, Keaton Cole 7 and Tyler Murray 4. Devoe Joseph was all but unstoppable as he hit his first five shots, for 12 points, to give the Trojans a 22-10 lead after the first quarter. He cooled down a little in the second quarter, shooting three-for-five for six more points and a 38-22 lead. “The quick start was really important,” said Joseph. “It got us a good lead and kept them on their heels.” Although the Trojans were outscored 10-3 in the third quarter, they kept marching in the final frame, outscoring the Trojans 15-11, but Joseph came through from the charity line to thwart a complete comeback. “He made the foul shots at the end when he had to,” said retiring Trojans’ coach Ron Parfitt. “He hit a cold streak (0-4), but at the end he came through like a champion. He made all the free throws he had to make.” Parfitt said the Trojans didn’t lose momentum; Eastern Commerce took it away. “They started changing things up on defence,” Parfitt said. “Our guys got a little hesitant. We shouldn’t have been stalling. We were supposed to pull them out, create space and slash into it, but our guys were standing back.” Devoe Joseph was elated that the Trojans managed to avoid squandering a 21-point lead. “Eastern is a great team, we knew they would go on their run.” Joseph, who scored 5 points in the second half, added that winning the title with younger brother Corey and father David, the assistant coach, was memorable. “I can’t explain it. We can talk about it forever.” Parfitt felt relief after winning his first title in 30 years of coach. “Relief! That we manage to hang on. Eastern did a great job to push us out of our offense, it was good defense by them.” Joseph said the Trojans wanted to win a crown for Parfitt. “We know how hard he works and how much he cares about us, for him this is a great achievement.” Eastern Commerce coach Roy Rana said “we tried to slow them down and tried to make some shots. But credit Pickering they made the shots when it counted and we didn’t.” Led by Devoe Joseph and Harouna Mutumbo, the Trojans raced out to a 22-10 lead after the first quarter. Eastern had no answer as Pickering, kept firing, pushing the lead to 32-11 before the Saints cut the deficit to 38-22 at the half. Devoe Joseph and Harouna Mutumbo combined to score 32 of Pickering’s 38 first half total, on a dizzying array of slashing drives to the bucket and long-range jumpers. Eastern did find the answer at halftime, employing a stifling aggressive zone defense that not only took the Trojans out of their offense and forced them to settle for long-range jump shots, and it almost won the game for Eastern. Led by 6’6” forward James Clark, who finished with 12 points, the Saints outscored the Trojans 10-3 in the third, holding both Mutumbo and Devoe Joseph scoreless. With 5:11 remaining in the fourth and the Trojans up 44-37, Devoe Joseph gave the ball away to Eastern’s Alwayne Bigby. In an attempt to atone for the error, Joseph grabbed Bigby from behind as he attempted a lay-up. Bigby crashed to the floor and lay writhing in pain for a couple of minutes; he left the game but returned later. Devoe Joseph was issued a flagrant foul, his fourth, one more and he’s gone. If the Saints can knock down the free throws and score on the subsequent possession, they could cut the deficit down to 2 points. Tyler Murray replaced the injured Bigby at the foul line and sank the first free throw, however he missed the second, one of 5 missed free throws in the last 5 minutes for the Saints. Saints trailed 49-44 with 57.4 seconds left when their captain and leader Chretien Lukasa made a driving lay-up. He was fouled on the play but missed the free throw that would have cut the deficit to 2. Lukusa was missing in the first half when his team needed him most, scored 8 of his 10 points in the second half. Eastern got the ball again down by four but Devoe Joseph made a crucial steal with 21.4 seconds left. A couple of free throws made it a 2-possession game and Eastern was finished. The Saints hit 16-23 from the line, missing several critical free throws down the stretch. Parfitt told the Toronto Star that “I’m very happy and very relieved.” Saints coach Roy Rana said “that first half we had trouble with their transition game, rebounding and turnovers. It was a different game in the final half. We weren’t going to roll over and give up the opportunity to win another (gold medal).”
The bronze medalist Rexdale Father Henry Carr Crusaders: Curtis Trotter; Rodel Grenaway; Yonas Berhe; Dominique Brown; Ricky Dunkley; Atwon Allwood; Jeffery Donaldson; Daniel Falloon; Sean Giscombe; Amen Osayande; Joseph Thompson; Tristan Watson; coach Paul Melnik; assistant John Petruschak
The silver medalist Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints: Julius Grant; Chretien Lukusa; James Clark; Keaton Cole; Alwayne Bigby; Marvin Binney; Tyler Murray; Adrian Tomlinson; Jean-Paul Kambola; Alex Hill; Wayne Bridge; Nick Cooke; Mathieu MacDonald; Matthieu Johnson; Myck Kabongo; Fitzroy Thompson; coach Roy Rana; assistant Kevin Jeffers; assistant Omar Bryans; assistant Trevor Bullen; assistant Sheldon Benoit
The gold medalist Ajax Pickering Trojans: Harouna Mutumbo; Cory Joseph; Devoe Joseph; Jonathan Tull; Sephton Spence; Justin Wiltshire; Brandon Thomas-James; Delroy Thomas; Jhedon McPherson; Andrew Noble; Nathan Campbell; Jamal Bucknor; Clayon Bennett; Ricardo Chung; Afras Khattak; Darren Robinson; Matt McKenzie; coach Ron Parfitt; assistant David Joseph; assistant Marc Picard; assistant Chris Smallings