In the opening, seeding round, held in Oshawa: …………………………………………………… The 12th-seeded Hamilton St. Thomas More Knights stunned the top-seeded Ajax Pickering Trojans 55-53. Knights coach Stefano Giovannengeli told the Hamilton Spectator that “we were down 10 points in the final quarter. Lamar Burr got a layup basket with five seconds to go. His brother Jermaine, gave him the pass. We didn’t have the lead until then. We were in hostile territory.” Pickering led 17-7, 30-25 and 45-35 at the quarters. Zack Angelini paced the Knights with 18. Natiel McKenzie led the Trojans with 13. Kaza Kajami-Keane added 11. Pickering was playing without 6-6 MiKyle McIntosh, who forced to miss the opener because his league suspended him for a game after taking two technical fouls in a controversial Durham final. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Toronto Oakwood Barons clocked the 16th-seeded Ottawa St. Matthew Tigers 79-58 after leading 22-15, 49-26 and 64-35 at the quarters. Julian Clarke paced the Barons with 21. Sheldon Moore added 12. Ykeala Aragia led the Tigers with 21. Gavin Resch added 13. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Ajax J. Clarke Richardson Storm clocked the 18th-seeded Innisfil Nantyr Shores Secondary Tritons 70-39 after leading 24-11, 40-13 and 52-22 at the quarters. Aaron Redpath paced the Storm with 22. Jelene Pryce led the Tritons with 13. …………………………………………………… The 14th-seeded Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish dumped the 8th-seeded Brampton St. Edmund Campion Bears 51-44. Campion led 9-7 after one quarter. Notre Dame led 23—16 at the half and 40-28 after three quarters. Jonathan Matata paced the Fighting Irish with 21. Tychon Carter led the Bears with 11. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded London H.B. Beal Raiders stomped the 9th-seeded Toronto St. Michael’s Blue Raiders 70-53 after leading 17-12, 32-21 and 46-36 at the quarters. Chevaun Miller-Bennett paced the Raiders with 30. Nathan Diloreto added 17. Duane Notice led the Blue Raiders with 23. “That was a great team win,” said Beal coach Tony Marcotullio, who doesn’t have a problem with his team’s seeding. “All the teams ahead of us deserve to be.” …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Brampton St. Marguerite D’Youville Catholic Gators dispatched the 13th-seeded Belle River St. Anne Catholic Saints 52-46 after leading 13-3, 24-15 and 36-35 at the quarters. Shane Thomas-Campbell paced the Gators with 15. Travis Turnbull led the Saints with 15. “They were very physical and we didn’t react very well,” St. Anne coach Larry Loebach told the Windsor Star. “We went ahead in the third quarter but we were just 10-for-21 from the line and we ran out of steam in the fourth quarter.” …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints dumped the 15th-seeded Scarborough Pope John Paul II Panthers 73-58. Pope John Paul II led 21-16 after one quarter and 33-30 at the half. Eastern Commerce led 53-42 after three quarters. Tyrone Ariri led the Saints with 18. Aaron Best added 17 and Kevin Kamba 11. Hassan Abdullahi led the Panthers with 14. Aaron McGowan added 13 and Shaquille Chan-Sing 13. The Panthers were trying to make a statement despite the absence of three starters due to academic ineligibility, a short bench and injuries. Head coach Steve Gazmin was also AWOL because of a serious family matter. Saints coach Kevin Jeffers made it clear at intermission that his troops were in tough and he was about to make changes to the lineup. The defending OFSAA Quad-A champs quickly got the hint and put up some big numbers in the final 15 minutes, coasting to a sloppy, physical win. “I was not happy, they didn’t make me proud and 30 points in the first half was not Eastern Commerce basketball,” Jeffers told the Toronto Star. “I gave them a few words, fired them up and it worked. Now they know where I stand.” Guard Tyrone Ariri said “(Jeffers) was yelling in the change room and told us to pick it. We weren’t focused, underestimated the other team and figured the day before that this would be an easy win – it was the opposite of what we had to do and we needed (Jeffers) to get us back on track.” Panthers assistant coach Donald Lindo admitted his team’s lack of players hurt. “Eastern played a different tempo in the second half and we didn’t have enough players to keep pace,” said Lindo. “We needed a complete roster, but in our case, players can’t fail classes and expect to play. Losing a game hurts, but at our school we have student athletes first, not just basketball players.” Chan-Singh, used sparingly in the final half because of a leg injury, said fatigue was a factor. “It was very frustrating because we just crumbled in the second half, got tired and our shots just weren’t falling,” he said. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Thornhill Vaughan Voyageurs clobbered the 17th-seeded Guelph John F. Ross Royals 74-42 after leading 17-12, 38-17 and 60-29 at the quarters. Diniiyi Walker paced the Voyageurs with 20. Ryan Cook led the Royals with 19. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Scarborough Blessed Mother Teresa Titans clobbered the 11th-seeded Waterloo Bluevale Knights 68-43 after leading 19-9, 32-21 and 48-32 at the quarters. Steven Squires paced the Titans with 13. Stefan Cvrkalj led the Knights with 24.
In the second, elimination round: …………………………………………………… The 18th-seeded Innisfil Nantyr Shores Secondary Tritons stomped the 16th-seeded Ottawa St. Matthew Tigers 68-40 after leading 21-16, 39-23 and 56-27 at the quarters. Jelane Pryce and Nick Simon each scored 20 to lead the Tritons. Gavin Resch notched 22 for the Tigers. St. Matthew (coached by Jason Wren) also included Cedric Dumais, Georgios Phillips, Ykealo Aria, Mike Black, Elias Houkayem, Matt Price, Cyril Babalola and Rob Anastasov. …………………………………………………… The 15th-seeded Scarborough Pope John Paul II Panthers dusted the 17th-seeded Guelph John F. Ross Royals 64-47 after leading 14-13, 36-21 and 50-32 at the quarters. Hassan Abdullahi led the Panthers with 23. Ryan Cook paced the Royals with 19. The Royals (coached by Bill Price and Shaun Wilson) also included Brad Crnkovic, Owen Moynihan, Wil de Groot, Joel Mohr, Evan Karl, Blake Linthwaite, Trey Larue, Shamlo Saeed, Jack Cornett, Dave Schwan and Drew Padovan.
In the third round: …………………………………………………… The 12th-seeded Hamilton St. Thomas More Knights dispatched the 18th-seeded Innisfil Nantyr Shores Secondary Tritons 46-36 after leading 19-6, 26-18 and 39-25 at the quarters. Lamar Barr led the Knights with 18. Jelane Pryce paced the Tritons with 14. The Tritons (coached by Trevor Neale) also included Jevon Dixon, Ryan Craber, R.J. Stacey, Calum Grenier, Jemal Cunningham, Myles White, Cole Peragine, Jacob Smith, Nick Simon and Jordan James. …………………………………………………… The 14th-seeded Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish clipped the 10th-seeded London H.B. Beal Raiders 58-44 after leading 13-6, 25-21 and 39-34 at the quarters. Cedric Kosongo paced the Fighting Irish with 28. James Gecseg-Jarvis led the Raiders with 16. The turning point came with about three minutes left and the Raiders down by two. Chevaun Miller-Bennett was going in on a breakaway layup to the tie game when he slipped on a wet spot on the floor. The ball went the other way, the Fighting Irish widened their lead and the Raiders had to foul them to stop the clock. “They’re a very good team that was poorly seeded. And our kids played hard; I can’t ask for anything more,” said Beal coach Tony Marcotullio. “This wasn’t like last year, when it was an upset. They shot something like 85% from the (three-point) arc.” The Raiders (coached by Tony Marcotullio, assisted by Ian McConnell, Jeff Flesher and Jim Grozelle) also included Chavaun Miller-Bennett, Malcolm Brown, Ryan Pflanzner, Trey Langford, Alec McConnell, Tyler Cheng, Trent Roberts and Nathan Diloreto. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints crushed the 13th-seeded Belle River St. Anne Catholic Saints 67-40 after leading 13-7, 29-17 and 44-32 at the quarters. Aaron Best paced the Saints with 16. Travis Turnbull led Lakeshore with 15. The Saints (coached by Larry Loebach, assisted by Roger Mousseau, Rick St. Pierre and Nicholas Chevalier) also included Andrew Loebach, Adrian Pona, Jonpaul Fantuz, Anthony Limbombe, Robert Small, Jacob Fuerth, Blake Mikhail, Austen Crough, George Dimitrijevic, Courtney Henry, Zachary Hicks, Luka Celic, Greg Mullins and Eric Carducci. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Thornhill Vaughan Voyageurs eliminated the 11th-seeded Waterloo Bluevale Knights 50-39 after leading 16-7, 27-17 and 37-27 at the quarters. Dinjiyl Walters led the Voyageurs with 19. Stefan Cvrkalj paced the Knights with 16. Another slow start was the beginning of the end for the Knights. Bluevale had come within four points with just over two minutes remaining, but that was as close as the Knights would get. Drew Ballak was named the Knights most valuable player for a strong defensive effort. “I’m proud of them. Our guys played with a lot of heart today,” said Knights head coach Doros Theodosiou. “They never gave up and kept fighting until the end.” The Knights (coached by Theodosiou, assisted by Rob Serviss, Dan White and Zelimir Stevanovic) also included Jamie Balsillie, Andrew Beney, Fraser Voll, Nikola Jovovic, Adam Zack, Drew Ballak, Karsten Beney, Pinal Gandhi, Perrin Smith, Jeff Dinsmore and Chris Casher. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Toronto Oakwood Barons defeated the top-seeded Ajax Pickering Trojans 51-44 after leading 13-10, 27-24 and 41-32 at the quarters. Kevin Blake paced the Barons with 23. MiKyle McIntosh led the Trojans with 23. The Trojans were in control 45-35 heading into the fourth quarter, but were outscored 20-8 over the final eight minutes. “They were ready to play but I don’t think really they were mentally ready to play after (Monday’s) defeat,” Pickering coach Mike Gordensky said. “They were still down a little bit from that. We had that game wrapped up and we threw it away the last four minutes. We just got beat by a better team.” The Trojans (coached by Gordensky, assisted by David Joseph, Kirk Salesman, Kerry Ashley, Nikosi Addams, Ron Parfitt and Cyril Sahadath) also included Clifford Millier, Asher Tulloch-Lewis, Damion Rashford, Jevon Jacobs, Kaza Kajami-Keane, Travis Bent, Kevin Gordon, Tarique Anderson, Haboubacar Sakho, Bryan Bajikijaie, Austin Chambers, Brandon Tull, Rowan Wedderburn-Bennett, Natiel McKenzie, Reshon Shaw, Tristan Clough, Shaquille Francis, Jamal Montplaisir and Donnele Munda. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Ajax J. Clarke Richardson Storm edged the 8th-seeded Brampton St. Edmund Campion Bears 60-57 after leading 19-15 after one quarter and 32-27 at the half. Campion led 44-30 after three quarters. Aaron Redpath paced the Storm with 24. Jayden McDonald led the Bears with 18. The Bears (coached by Sanjeev Malhotra, assisted by Donovan Patterson) also included Kadeem Cox, Kevon Pryce, Joshua Miller, Kevin Adiefeh, Justin Kwakye, Tychon Newman-Carter, Jevain Daniels, Steven Asirifi, Griffin Fernandes, Jordan Clennon, Philip Butler, Douglas Obeng, Jeffrey Owusu and Aron Sawyers. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Toronto St. Michael’s Blue Raiders nipped the 7th-seeded Brampton St. Marguerite D’Youville Catholic Gators 46-45 after leading 21-11, 29-20 and 40-32 at the quarters. Duane Notice paced the Blue Raiders with 19. Dylan Periana led the Gators with 13. The Gators 9coached by Carlo Zoffraneri and Mike Mackenzie) also included Kamar Akoto, Mike Marzan, Mike Brooks, Kevin Ramos, Jimi Falana, Jasman Rai, Sandeep Saroya, Shane Thomas-Campbell, Brandon Maitland, Peter Boateng, Charles Amponsah, Manny Sahota, Andrew Plummer, Chris Oppong and Shaun Thomas-Campbell. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Scarborough Blessed Mother Teresa Titans dumped the 15th-seeded Scarborough Pope John Paul II Panthers 55-43 after leading 10-7, 24-20 and 42-32 at the quarters. Adika Peter-McNeilly and Keyon Stephenson each scored 9 to pace the Titans. Hassan Abdullahi led the Panthers with 16. The Panthers (coached by Steve Gazman, assisted by Jill Forester and Donald Lindo) also included Shaquille Chan-Singh, Aaron McGowan, O’Neil Reece, Kenrick Phillip, Kelvin Phillip, Tamark Wright-Boswell, Tyler Persaud and Marcus Nasir.
In the quarterfinals, the 12th-seeded Hamilton St. Thomas More Knights edged the 14th-seeded Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish 56-52. Notre Dame led 12-11 after one quarter. St. Thomas More led 34-27 at the half and 47-40 after three quarters. Zack Angelini paced the Knights with 19. Cedric Kosongo led the Fighting Irish with 20. The Fighting Irish (coached by Mike Rao, David Fucile and Dan Marshall) also included Brant Morwald, John Makolo, Owen Demers, Jonathan Mataya, Vuka Bondzi-Simpson, Antonio Carbone, Christopher Rao, Anthony Coccagna, Daniel Bellinaso, Andre Viljoen and Johnny Augustin.
The 5th-seeded Thornhill Vaughan Voyageurs nipped the 4th-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints 59-58 after leading 20-11, 26-21 and 46-36 at the quarters. Dinjiyl Walker led the Voyageurs with 24. Tyrone Ariri paced the Saints with 20. The Saints (coached by Kevin Jeffers, assisted by Josh Ford, Trevor Bullen, Dan Mascalidis, Dwayne Sybbliss and Sean Bookal) also included Denzel Brooks, Brandon Sam-Hinton, Roger Tshimpaka, Daniel Robertson, Ammanuel Diressa, Jake Hill, Cameron Robertson, Aaron Best, James Sylvester, Kevin Kamba, Arsene Dilenga, Eliel Lukusa and Lamar McGowan.
The 6th-seeded Toronto Oakwood Barons edged the 3rd-seeded Ajax J. Clarke Richardson Storm 75-72 in overtime. The Storm led 17-14, 29-28 and 37-34 at the quarters. Julian Clarke paced the Barons with 24. Aaron Redpath led the Storm with 22. Kevin Blake hit a pair of free throws with 0.6 seconds to play in regulation to force overtime. He then hit the winning points in the extra session. “We were down by two, I had to draw a foul or make a basket – we had to win the game,” Blake told the Toronto Star. “I had to keep my composure. They’re a good team, but we’re better.” Oakwood coach Anthony Miller said Blake was a long-shot to make the playoffs, having missed the Toronto District School Board qualifiers because of a leg injury. “We got one of those amazing gifts from God when we found out his ACL was sprained and not torn and he’d be alright to play here. He’s awesome, the kid’s a player. We were down and (Richardson) was bullying us around. My guys didn’t want to lose and Blake took control.” Richardson coach Mike McFetters told his team to avoid fouls in the closing seconds of the quarter-final. A long pass downcourt led to a foul call that allowed Blake to shoot the crucial game-tying free throws. “It looked like a big scrum (on the Hail Mary) and the game official called a foul on our guy,” McFetters said. “Maybe it was my rose-coloured glasses. Two great teams and someone had to lose.” McFetters added that “it’s a tough loss. You’d like to get that ultimate goal and we came up just short. They are a great team. We’re a great team. Somebody’s got to lose.” Tyrelle Samuels drove the lane and scored to put J. Clarke up 63-61 with just 3.4 seconds remaining in the game. But a long inbounds pass was grabbed by Oakwood’s Kevin Blake who was fouled while shooting, and he nailed both free throws with .06 seconds left in regulation time to tie it 63-63. In overtime, the Storm fell behind at 73-70 after a layup and free throw by Blake with 41 seconds left and they couldn’t make up the difference. “You lose by three points and you can second guess every little thing,” said McFetters. He also expressed frustration that Oakwood was able to cut into the Storm’s nine-point lead in the fourth quarter by making trips to the foul line, but his team couldn’t earn the same calls. “I’m impressed with the guys and really happy with their effort,” he added. “Especially from some of the kids that came in in Grade 9 or 10, they’ve really learned to persevere.” The Storm (coached by McFetters, assisted by Matt Beatty, Matt Parfitt, Shawn Saunders and Zach Sutton) also included Malik Grant, Leon Alexander, Raheem Mattison Green, Nathaniel Gardner, Jordan Brown, Darnell Bailey, Courtney Dawkins, Alexander Farinha-Henry, Lequan Grant-Stuart, Shaquille Holmes, Jaylen Babb-Harrison, Tyrelle Samuels, Kevin Skullie, Jordan Scott, Andre Manning, Khalid Chrysostom and Tysean Henry.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Scarborough Blessed Mother Teresa Titans clipped the Toronto St. Michael’s Blue Raiders 81-72 after leading 20-14, 40-30 and 49-47 at the quarters. Kadeem Knott paced the Titans with 18. Duane Notice led the Blue Raiders with 28. The Blue Raiders (coached by Jeff Zownir, assisted by Nunzio Corrente and Daniel Lumsden) also included King Gabriel Agulefo, Matt Jaglowitz, Jon Roth, Andrew Dawson, Eric Roth, Jelani Daniel, Joey Clemenzi, Stefan Calabrese, Malcolm Duvivier and M.J. Kisirye.
In the semis, the 12th-seeded Hamilton St. Thomas More Knights defeated the 5th-seeded Thornhill Vaughan Voyageurs 72-66 after leading 22-10, 42-20 and 56-40 at the quarters. Paul Petrocelli paced the Knights with 21. Carlos Isit led the Voyageurs with 22. Creating some tempo in the second half, the Voyageurs whittled away at their deficit and got to within 70-66 with 12 seconds remaining in regulation time, but could get no closer. Coach Constantine Gymnopoulos felt his club’s inability to hit their outside shots in the first half, when St. Thomas More packed the middle, led to their demise. As well, he felt his charges might have taken their opponents a little too lightly considering they were seeded 12th. “Our outside shooting was non-existent. We didn’t make shots. But Thomas More was a tough team. No way they were a 12th seed. I think we looked a bit past them.”
In the other semi, the 6th-seeded Toronto Oakwood Barons upset the 2nd-seeded Scarborough Blessed Mother Teresa Titans 65-60. Mother Theresa led 14-13 after one quarter. Oakwood led 28-26 at the half and 45-44 after three quarters. Julian Clarke paced the Barons with 25. Adika Peter McNeilly led the Titans with 26.
In the bronze medal match, the 2nd-seeded Scarborough Mother Teresa Titans edged the 5th-seeded Thornhill Vaughan Voyageurs 67-65. Vaughan led 24-17 after one quarter. The score was knotted at 27 at the half. Vaughan led 50-40 after three quarters. Adika Peter-McNeilly led the Titans with 13. Cy Samuels paced the Voyageurs with 13. James Choi added 13 and Carlos Isit 13. The Voyageurs suffered a bit of a setback in the early moments when one of their top players, Dinjiyl Walker, cramped up and was forced to leave the game in the first quarter. But the Voyageurs exhibited great resolve as they battled the Titans to a 37-37 tie at the half before taking a 60-50 lead entering the final eight minutes. Missing several key shots in the final quarter proved costly. Still, coach Constantine Gymnopoulos praised their effort. “It was a bit of a letdown to play in the bronze medal game. We had four of our seniors come back to try and win the gold medal. To play for the bronze was bittersweet. But we played pretty well. Unfortunately, Mother Teresa’s pressure got to us.” The Voyageurs (coached by Gymnopoulos, assisted by Mohammed Saleh, Nizam Alkins and Paul Weekes) also included Dejaun Sutherland, Davion Eccles, Roshane Roberts, Motti Ali, Aiddian Walters, Brenden Clarke, Henry Tan and Troy Reid-Knight.
In the final, the 6th-seeded Toronto Oakwood Barons dumped the 12th-seeded Hamilton St. Thomas More Knights 47-34. St. Thomas More led 11-9 after one quarter. Oakwood led 21-19 at the half. St. Thomas More led 28-23 after three quarters. Julian Clarke paced the Barons with 20. Zack Angelini led the Knights with 8. Clarke took over the third quarter, connecting on five treys. “Gold, it’s beautiful; waited a long time for this,” Clarke told the Toronto Star. “I’ve had big games but none as important as this one. It’s the best feeling ever. It’s for the entire school.” Oakwood coach Anthony Miller said Clarke demanded the ball in the final quarter. “’Run everything through me,’ that’s what he wanted – so I did and it was the best move I made in my life,” said Miller. “Amazing, gold and Clarke – it’s all the same.” Knights coach Stefano Giovannangeli said Clarke “broke our broke our hearts with those threes. “The plan was to keep the game as ugly as possible, keep (Clarke) under control. We knew he was dangerous; what he did was remarkable. No doubt, he’s a great player.” Knights guard Paul Petruccelli said “I thought we had him after three quarters but I have to hand it to him. He’s truly a remarkable – an NCAA Division 1 player.” Giovannangeli said Clarke “went off on us. It was Clarke who gave them the momentum. His shots were daggers. And, for three of the five, we had a hand up in his face. … Their defensive pressure finally got to us. We were so close. It was a bitter pill. Coming home with silver as the 12th seed was phenomenal, though. It was our school’s first boys’ medal (for OFSAA basketball) in 37 years.”
The bronze medalist Scarborough Mother Teresa Titans: Steven Squires; Adika Peter-McNeilly; Keyon Stephenson; Kadeem Knott; Jordan Phillips; Samy Mohamed; Jordan McCurbin; Ritchie Kanza; Deshaun Williams; Dwayne Dawe; Ancil Martin; Raynold Kasongo; Ose Akioyamen; John Hannant-Minchel; Shavoie Tomlinson; Emeron Rogers; Joel Soodeen; coach Richard Gallacher; assistant Jason Gill; assistant Robert Clement; assistant Kirt McNeilly
The silver medalist Hamilton St. Thomas More Knights: Zack Angelini; Lamar Barr; Paul Petruccelli; Santino Pecora; Josh Sheriff; Chad Brown; Marcus St. Aubin; John Gordon; Phil Palmieri; Jermaine Barr; Jerome Sealy; Justin Avery; Ali Askarov; Kojo Afari; Tristan Fraser; coach Stefano Fiovannangeli; assistant Chris D’Angela; assistant Brian Rosati; assistant Tom Spironello; assistant Mark Moretuzzo
The gold medalist Toronto Oakwood Barons: Julian Clarke; Sheldon Moore; Kevin Blake; Jamal Mucket-Sobers; Adam Djukic; Jermaine Bernard; Felip Music; Michael Ranger; Troy Jackson; Tyrell Bellot-Green; Dwayne Dobson; Dillon King; Myles Forrester; Xzennis Brereton; Isaiah Watkins; Julius Campbell; coach Anthony Miller; assistant Dave Bathune; assistant Anthony Digorgio; assistant Branko Samsa; assistant Marie Ramos; assistant Norm Clarke