1967-68 OFSAA triple-A – boys

       OFSAA moved to a 16-team tourney for the first time in its 20-year history, with 15 conferences-zones represented in the tourney.

In the opening round, held in Hamilton: …………………………………………………… The Windsor Assumption Purple Raiders thrashed the Ottawa Glebe Gryphons 72-30 after leading 18-5, 44-16 and 59-21 at the quarters. Every player on the Purple Raiders roster scored at least three points. Norbert Rammler led the way with 16. Gray Ulicny added 11, Jack Bolzan 10, Dennis Smith 8, Craig Everingham 5, Dave Cogliati 4, Carman Iannicello 4, Pat McMahon 4 and Wayne Churchill 3. Purple Raiders coach Jack Hool told the Windsor Star that “they didn’t show too much did they? By the same token, we played quite a bit better. … Our shooting was very sharp, particularly Rammler, who hadn’t been too effective since the start of the playoffs.” Randy Glynn and Sandy MacIntosh each scored 7 to lead the Gryphons. Mike Sands added 6, Frank Swedlove 4, Barry Wilson 3, Bob Blondin 2 and Howard Cohen 2. The Gryphons also included J Vickers, D Laird and B Holden. …………………………………………………… The Hamilton Cathedral Gaels, averaging 100 ppg in 10 league contests while going 12-0 entering the tourney, thrashed the Toronto Oakwood Barons 70-45. The Gaels took a 24-11 lead and their fans began chanting “we wanna hundred, we wanna hundred.” They fell short but still racked up their 25th win of an undefeated season. They averaged 100 ppg in league play but played 10-minute quarters. The Gaels opened with a 9-1 run and were never threatened as their full-court press rattled the Barons into miscues and their zone defence stymied their foes. Paul Mazza led Cathedral with 23 points. Mark Walton added 9, Gerry Simpson 8, Pete McPhee 6, Pete Hamilton 5, Pat Papalia 5, Al Smithson 4, Mike McPhee 4, Ray Cupido 4 and Bill Butkevicius 2. Ken Pratt led the Barons with 17. Joe Hauth added 12 and Bob Toccket 6. The Barons (coached by Bob McKinney) also included Kevin Judge, Ron McNab, George Cervoni, Al Hedderwick and Ted Carey. …………………………………………………… The Etobicoke Kipling Wildcats whipped the Kapuskasing District Kolts 54-39 as Chris Greaves scored 16 and Mel Chadwick 12. Brad Robinson paced Kapuskasing with 13. Allan Law added 11. The Kolts also included Spiro Pakula, Dennis Gennault, Bob Giles. …………………………………………………… The Oshawa Central Chiefs whipped the Toronto Harbord Tigers 78-35 as Larry Lloyd scored 15, Dennis Hercia 12 and Joe Krasnan 11. Alex Szwetz paced Harbord with 14. Gary Moran added 10. The Tigers also included Peter Artyszuk, Fred Foutopoulos. …………………………………………………… Sudbury St. Charles dumped the Toronto St. Michael’s Blue Raiders 66-43 as Tino Lenti scored 20, Bill Tonelli 14 and Sandy MacDonald 10. Sam Ignatavicius paced St. Michael’s with 15. The Blue Raiders (coached by Dan Pendergrast) also included Cliff King, George Rautins, Pat Lee, Jeff Hayes, Frank Nacsa, Paul Schmidt, Santino Dodaro, Mark Petit, John Zorza, Cliff King, Steve Wakely and Bob Leschychen. …………………………………………………… The St. Catharines Denis Morris Redmen crushed the Port Arthur Hammarskjold Vikings 90-39 as Mike McGinnis scored 21, Paul Bilewicz 15, Jim MacFarlane 12 (also reported as 13), Kevin McKenna 11, Rick Tracey 10, Cripps 7, Nelson 6, Pischedda 6 and O’Mara 1, while Ron Chomas was scoreless. Redmen coach Eamon O’Shea told the St. Catharines Standard that “it was really no test for our team.” The Redmen led 18-14, 38-21 and 67-30 at the quarters. They hit 10-26 from the line, while the Vikings were 17-29. Markku Peuhkurinen paced the Vikings with 18. Healey added 7, Dale Olsen 6, Dawson 3, Laskowski 3 and Hibberd 2, while Ritchie, Jory and Kinnunen were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The Brantford Pauline Johnson Thunderbirds dumped the Cornwall St. Lawrence Saints 77-48 as Frank Nagy scored 20, Joe Martino 15, Mike Cleary 14, Gordon Wilson 11, Pat Woodburn 9, Bill Lindley 4, Barton Strong 2 and Ron Pritchard 2, while Joe Baldin, Tom Makrzycki, Steve Milton, Bob Balog and John Huff were scoreless. John MacDonald and Richard Alguire each notched 12 for the Saints. McAllister added 7, Ed Kinnear 6, Abraham 5, Appleton 4 and Carrier 3, while L MacDonald, Nault, Harvey and Bradley were scoreless. The Saints also included W MacDonald. …………………………………………………… The Sarnia CI Blue Bombers edged the Markham District H.S. Marauders 49-43 as Tom Thompson scored 14, Don Hart 11 and Tom Mattingley 11. Doug Painter paced Markham with 18. Fraser Perkin added 10.

       In the quarterfinals, the St. Catharines Denis Morris Redmen whipped the Oshawa Central Chiefs 72-51 in a foul-plagued affair featuring 63 fouls, three technicals and seven players dispatched to the sidelines. “They didn’t miss a thing,” Redmen coach Eamon O’Shea told Canadian Press. “They called everything.” O’Shea told the St. Catharines Standard that “I just can’t understand what they (the refs) were trying to prove. But they certainly spoiled what might have been a pretty fair basketball game.” Denis Morris fouled out three starters while Oshawa coach Don McIveen saw four of his starters get tossed, including leading scorer Larry Lloyd. Central took an early 11-3 lead but Denis Morris knotted the scored midway through the second quarter. Jim MacFarlane fouled out early in the second half, after scoring 12 for St. Catharines. A minute later, Lloyd fouled out and the Redmen took command. They’d led 37-34 at the half but outscored Central 20-5 in the third quarter. Oshawa lost Dave Cutler, Joe Krasnan and Dennis Hercia in the final period. Mike McGinnis fouled out after scoring 21 (also reported as 20) for St. Catharines. Kevin McKenna soon joined him on the bench. Three players picked up technicals for not raising their hands when they fouled out of the game. Kevin McKenna added 15 (also reported as 17) for the Redmen, including 11 from the line, MacFarlane 12, Cripps 9, Paul Hubbard 9 (also reported as 10), O’Mara 2, Bilewich 2 and Nelson 1, while Pischedda and Tracey were scoreless. Joe Krasnan led the Chiefs with 17. Larry Lloyd scored 11 (also reported as 7), Charlie Marlowe 9, Cuthbert 6 and Chryk 4, while Cutler, Gorny, Rajkovic and Casselman were scoreless. The Redmen hit 36-48 from the line, while Central was 23-39

       The Sudbury St. Charles Cardinals dumped the Sarnia CI Blue Bombers 58-41 as Bill Tonelli scored 18, Eric Pandke 12 and Tino Lenti 11. Don Hart led Sarnia with 14. Tom Mattingley added 12. The Blue Bombers (coached by Earl Kilner) also included Bruce Lester, Mike Preston, Brian Smith, Brent MacFarlane, Pete Westfall, Tom Cooper, Rick Robertson, Tom Thomson, Dan Elliott, Steve Jones and George Sunaitis.

The Hamilton Cathedral Gaels crushed the Brantford Pauline Johnson Thunderbirds 43-25 in a low-scoring, poor shooting affair. The Gaels led 22-13 at the half. Mark Walton paced Cathedral with 15 points. Gerry Simpson, Paul Mazza and Pete McPhee each added 8, Pete Hamilton 2 and Al Smithson 2. Gaels coach Kyran Kennedy told the Hamilton Spectator that “Brantford played our type of game. Ball control. They played well and didn’t give us much opportunity to shoot.” Gord Wilson paced Pauline Johnson with 10. Frank Nagy added 7. The Gaels hit 18-55 (.340) from the floor, while the Thunderbirds hit 7-52 (.135). Thunderbirds coach Joe Pajor told the Brantford Expositor that “I can’t remember when we’ve ever hit as low as 14% before. Mike Cleary alone had 6 of 7 shots which should have gone in, but somehow they didn’t.” The Thunderbirds (coached by Joe Pajor, manager Dave Borthwick) also included Joe Martino, Mike Cleary, Mike Milton, Bill Lindley, Pat Woodburn, Ron Pritchard, Joe Baldin, John Huff, Barton Strong, Tom Makrzycki, Bob Balog and Steve Milton.

In the last quarterfinal, the Windsor Assumption Purple Raiders made it a Roman Catholic schools quarterfinal sweep by dumping the Etobicoke Kipling Wildcats 52-41. The Purple Raiders led 28-12 at the half before the Wildcats rallied to within 41-32 after three quarters. Norbert Rammler led Assumption with 15. Jack Bolzan added 10, Dennis Smith 8, Horocky 8, Ulicny 7 and Everingham 6. The Purple Raiders hit 20-52 from the floor and 12-16 from the line. Purple Raiders coach Jack Hool told the Windsor Star “we shouldn’t be bothered that much by the press. We’ve been played against it and beaten it at least a dozen times this season but tonight we lost our composure and it cost us a lot of points. (But) defensively, we played another strong game.” Imants Perkons paced Kipling with 15. Bob Tobin added 14, Steve Cutler 8 and Chris Greaves 4, while Malcolm Chadwick was scoreless. The Wildcats (coached by John Spence) also included Ed Majchrowski, Rick Curtis.

In the semis, Bill Tonelli scored a putback bucket with four seconds to play to give the Sudbury St. Charles Cardinals a 52-50 win over the St. Catharines Denis Morris Redmen. Eric Pandke and Tino Lenti each scored 13 to lead St. Charles. Bill Tonelli added 12, O’Neill 9 and Fabilli 5, while Murdock, Edwards and McDonald were scoreless. Mike McGinnis paced the Redmen with 17. Paul Bilewicz added 14, Cripps 8, MacFarlane 4, Nelson 2 and Hubbard 1, while Tracey, O’Mara and Pischedda were scoreless. The Redmen led 18-16 after one quarter and ripped off a 10-0 run in the second quarter but the Cardinals rallied to within 32-25 at the half. The Cardinals led 42-38 after three quarters.

In the other semi, the Hamilton Cathedral Gaels dumped the Windsor Assumption Purple Raiders 72-54. The Gaels took command with 14 unanswered points in the second quarter as they build a 37-20 lead at the half. Paul Mazza paced Cathedral with 18. Mark Walton added 17, Al Smithson 11, Gerry Simpson 8, Pete Hamilton 8, Bill Butkevicious 6, Pete McPhee 2 and Ray Cupido 2. The Gaels hit 28-67 from the floor and 16-26 from the line. Gary Ulicny paced Assumption with 15. Norbert Rammler and Jack Bolzan each added 10, Greg Horocky 9, Dennis Smith 6 and Craig Everingham 4. The Purple Raiders hit 16-58 from the floor and 22-29 from the line. Purple Raiders coach Jack Hool told the Windsor Star “the score pretty much speaks for itself. … There was one segment in the second quarter where they just about chased us out of the gym.”

In the final, the Hamilton Cathedral Gaels dumped the Sudbury St. Charles Cardinals 57-37 to capture their first title. Coach Father Kyran Kennedy said the Gaels fulfilled the season plan. “We want to average 100 points a game, which we did. We wanted our conference title, which we have. Now we want the Ontario championship.” The Gaels finished (28-0) on the season. The Gaels took a 9-1 lead and extended their margin to 27-7 midway through the second quarter. Paul Mazza scored 14 despite playing with a leg injury suffered in the semis. The Gaels opened second half with a 12-0 run. Pete Hamilton also scored 14. Mark Walton added 10, while Gerry Simpson and Pete McPhee each scored 8 and Al Smithson 3. The Cardinals struggled with the Gaels full-court pressure. Tino Lenti and Sandy MacDonald each scored 8 to lead St. Charles. Bill Tonelli added 8. The game marked the end of the coaching career of Father Kyran Kennedy. He noted: “I hate to say it. But this is my last season as coach and naturally it’s my most satisfying. Of course I’m biased but this Cathedral team is the finest high school club I’ve ever seen. These boys have more individual skills than any collection of players I’ve seen.”

The co-bronze medalist Windsor Assumption Purple Raiders: Gary Ulichny; Norbert Rammler; Jack Bolzan; Greg Horocky; Dennis Smith; Craig Everingham; Churchill; Kammerer; Gelinas; coach Jack Hool

The co-bronze medalist St. Catharines Denis Morris Redmen: Mike McGinnis; Paul Bilewicz; Jim McFarlane; Ken Cripps; Ron Choma; Rick Nelson; Mark O’Mara; Kevin McKenna; Rick Tracey; Nino Pischedda; Paul Dennison; Paul Hubbard; coach Eamon O’Shea; manager Brian Thorne

The silver medalist Sudbury St. Charles Cardinals: Tino Lenti; Bill Tonelli; Sandy MacDonald; Eric Pandke; Dan DiSalle; Steve O’Neill; Berk Keaney; Edwards; Sandy MacDonald; Fabilli; Murdock; McDonald; coach Reverend Hod Marshall

       The gold medalist Hamilton Cathedral Gaels: Paul Mazza; Mark Walton; Gerry Simpson; Pete McPhee; Pete Hamilton; Pat Papalia; Al Smithson; Ray Cupido; Bill Butkevicious; coach Father Kyran Kennedy; assistant Jim Daly