In the opening round, held in Etobicoke: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Toronto Runnymede Redmen defeated the Niagara Falls A.N. Myer Marauders 59-56. Runnymede struggled early with the inside play of 6-11 Greg Newton and 6-9 Peter Guarasci. Runnymede had a 20-12 first-quarter lead thanks to a 17-4 run in a span of 3:29, but fell apart when the Myer twin towers took control of the boards and the Marauders broke Runnymede’s press. Duke-bound Newton gave Myer a 34-30 edge at halftime on 8 blocks, four jams and a pair of alley-oops. But the Marauders shot just 8-22 from the line. “We lost the game at the line … it was upsetting. We’re really down after working so hard to win this game and prove that we weren’t a No. 16 team as many thought,” Newton, who scored 19, told the Toronto Star. His cousin, Jason Newton, and Guarasci added 14 apiece. Ancel Edwards had 16 for Runnymede, with Steve Anderson popping in 14. Runnymede coach John Petrushchak said reserve Anderson “was the star of the game … the kid was sucking in wind at the end of the game.” Anderson tied up Newton in the closing minutes, Petrushchak added. “I’ve said it before, good teams find a way to win but take nothing away from (Myer), this was their championship game.” …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Scarborough Lester B. Pearson Bengals dumped the Kingston Loyalist Lancers 62-42 as Dave Small scored 18. Pearson took a 29-18 lead at the half. “With under 10 minutes left we cut their lead to seven but then we missed the front end of a 1-and-1 situation that could have cut it to five,” Loyalist coach Dave Nichols told the Kingston Whig-Standard. “Shortly afterwards Sheraz Syed fouled out and Pearson went on a 17-5 run.” Scott Goodridge led the Lancers with 14. Dan Pfliger added 12. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Windsor W.D. Lowe Trojans clipped the Belleville Moira Trojans 83-28 after taking a 46-11 lead at the half. “We heard their guards were weak bringing the ball up so we pressed them right from the top,” Trojan guard Ottavio Mannarino, who dished 15 assists, told the Windsor Star. “We forced 10 turnovers in the first couple of minutes and the game was basically over from that point. We came unglued for a few minutes to start the second half and we tried to showboat too much but we got back on track fairly quickly.” Shannon Robbins led the Trojans with 29 points and 16 boards. Zoran Ristic added 23. Dan Bentley led the Trojans with 27. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Oshawa O’Neill Redmen defeated the Ottawa Woodroffe Tigers 69-60 as Doug Wilson scored 19. “We earned some respect,” Tigers coach John Soden told the Ottawa Citizen. Jeff Traversy paced the Tigers with 20. Shawn Swords added 18. The Tigers led by nine at the half. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Etobicoke Martingrove Bears stomped the Toronto St. Michael’s Blue Raiders 93-45 as Damion Royes scored 19. Clint McDonald led the Blue Raiders with 25. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Mississauga Westwood Wildcats defeated the London Pope John Paul II Jaguars 66-37 as Sherman Hamilton scored 15. Michael Bourdeau led the Jaguars with 16. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Brantford North Park Trojans clipped the Sudbury Lo-Ellen Park Knights 72-57 as Paul Eldridge scored 25, while nabbing 16 boards. Scott Carroll notched 11, David Eves 10, Peter Shut 9 and Ashaok Grewal 2. The Trojans led 20-15, 34-26 and 56-36 at the quarters. Grewal told the Brantford Expositor that “we were lucky we had Eldridge in the first half. No one else was here to play.” Trojans coach Gerry Vitiello said “Eldridge was tremendous. If he had not come to play. … I can’t say enough about him.” Jason Fairey led the Knights with 12. …………………………………………………… The unseeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints, playing without three starters Rawle Philadelphia and Pat McKay, who were ruled ineligible for OFSAA because they’d violated association transfer rules, stunned the 8th-seeded Hamilton Sherwood Saints 59-41 as Mark Hunte scored 30. Andrew Peters led Sherwood with 20. Sherwood assistant Mark Simpson told the Hamilton Spectatpor that “we were hurt by rebounds and missed shots.”
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Oshawa O’Neill Redmen smacked the Toronto St. Michael’s Blue Raiders 75-54 as Chris Elmhurst scored 18. Clint McDonald and Brian Heaney each notched 19 to lead the Blue Raiders. The Blue Raiders (coached by Greg Paolini, assisted by E Vitullo, and trained by Mike Albert) also included Brian Emanuel, Carlo DiGiovanni, Fernando Chien, Kevin St. Louis, Pat Gleason, Roger Flaim, Mike Zavershnick, O.J. Santiago and Mike Gleeson. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Mississauga Westwood Wildcats nipped the Niagara Falls A.N. Myer Marauders 57-56 as Sherman Hamilton scored 17. Greg Newton and Peter Guarasci each scored 19 to pace the Marauders. The Marauders (coach Bob Coull) also included Mike Sutton, Jay Newton, Jeff Girodet, Nick Medic, Lou Stranges, Mike Pirker, Jason Newton, Jamie Coull. …………………………………………………… The unseeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints clubbed the Kingston Loyalist Lancers 84-37 as Mark Hunte scored 25. Scott Goodridge led the Lancers with 13. The Lancers (coached by Dave Nichols, assistant Wayne Lee) also included Khurrum Syed, Dan Pfliger, Sheraz Syed, Mike Walmsley, Dortch, Nguyen, Leonard, Jackson, Fray, Ranger, Tsonos and Connelly. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Windsor W.D. Lowe Trojans stomped the Sudbury Lo-Ellen Park Knights 92-53 as Octavio Mannarino scored 21. Ian McIlraith, Ian Pitbaldo and Jason Fairey each scored 8 to pace the Knights. ……………………………………………… The top-seeded Toronto Runnymede Redmen edged the unseeded London Pope John Paul II Jaguars 62-59 in double overtime as Delawn Grandison and Al St. Louis each scored 13. Mark Eys led the Jaguars with 13. ……………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Scarborough Lester B. Pearson Bengals clipped the 8th-seeded Hamilton Sherwood Saints 55-45 as Dave Small scored 16, while Ritchie Lyte dominated the boards. Bengals coach Phil Lawn told the Hamilton Spectator that “we knew who Titus (Channer) was. Some of our guys had played with him in the summer. We made some adjustments in the second half with bigger guys watching him. Sherwood has some great guards with Channer and (Andrew (Peters) but they need someone up front.” Titus Channer led the Saints with 16. Andrew Gillis added 12, Andrew Peters 9 and Max Forty 8. The Saints (coach Al Bullock, assistant Mark Simpson) also included Greig Close. ……………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Etobicoke Martingrove Bears dumped the Ottawa Woodroffe Tigers 70-59 as Shawn Gray scored 23. Jeff Traversy led the Tigers with 25. The Tigers (coached by John Soden) also included Shawn Swords, Chris Saygon, Marco Dinardo, Henry Garbrall. ……………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Brantford North Park Trojans spanked the Belleville Moira Trojans 61-47 as Paul Eldridge and Ashaak Grewal each scored 13. David Eves added 12 and George Skarich 11. The Trojans led 17-9, 30-15 and 40-23 at the quarters. George Kapaclis led Moira with 14.
In the quarterfinals, the 2nd-seeded Oshawa O’Neill Redmen defeated the 7th-seeded Brantford North Park Trojans 64-54 as Cam Nekkers scored 20, Jason Podrats 17, Doug Wilson 12 and Jason Meford 10. Paul Eldridge and Ashaak Grewal each scored 16 to pace the Trojans. Scott Carroll added 10. O’Neill led 9-0 early and 17-9, 37-23 and 44038 at the quarters. The Trojans drew withing 46-43 on an Ashoak Grewal trey but then Nekkers took command scoring 10 of the Redmen’s last 14 points. Trojans coach Gerry Vitello told the Brantford Expositor that “they’re qute a team, which makes us quite a team. If we could play a few more games against these teams, we’d do a little better. We played fantastic. But they’ve got such explosiveness. A (loose) ball would come out in the open and they’d get a basket just like that. I don’t know how they did it.” The Trojans (coached by Vitiello) also included Stu Taylor, Peter Schut, George Skarich, David Eves, Lannie Henderson, Jeff Eden, Enes Medanhodzic, Jeff Dix, Mike Wheaton, Wilson Bigelow and Craig Zaranyik.
The 3rd-seeded Scarborough Lester B. Pearson Bengals defeated the 6th-seeded Mississauga Westwood Wildcats 66-62 in overtime as Dave Small scored 16. Sherman Hamilton led the Wildcats with 17. The Wildcats (coached by Mal Simms) also included Andrew Shepherd, Lars Dressler, Jason Dressler.
The top-seeded Toronto Runnymede Redmen defeated the unseeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints 53-50 as Dwayne Hartley scored 18. Runnymede coach John Petrushchak told the Toronto Star his team “was playing scared and looking like they were on the brink of elimination. We’re hanging on the edge and finding some way to win; I don’t understand it. They’re uptight, the shooting is atrocious and the guys are having lots of difficulties coping with the fact that when you’re No. 1, everyone is out to get you.” Eastern broke the 28-28 halftime score, going up 42-39 with some aggressive play spearheaded by 6-7 forward Mark Hunte – the game’s top scorer with 22, but the turning point occurred with the game tied at 50-50 and with just under a minute to play when Hunte missed a trey. Al St. Louis then hit two free throws to win it with 11 seconds to play. “We’re a very young team and made too many mental mistakes, particularly under pressure late in the game; I don’t care how bad Runnymede looked, you can’t give them second chances and we simply did,” said Eastern coach Harri Baird. “The guys proved they could play with the best.” The Saints played without guard Rawle Philadelphia and Pat McKoy, who were ineligible because of OFSAA transfer rules. The Saints (coached by Baird) also included Ken Prentice, Aleks Ninkovic, Terry Adams.
In the last quarterfinal, the Windsor W.D. Lowe Trojans dusted the Etobicoke Martingrove Bears 53-40 as Zoran Ristic scored 20. Andrew Taylor led the Bears with 14. The Bears also included Shawn Gray, Dameion Royes, Chuck Tallon, Len Izzard, Ryan Fabricius (ineligible transfer).
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Oshawa O’Neill Redmen defeated the 3rd-seeded Scarborough Lester B. Pearson Bengals 62-60. Bengal Merrick Palmer had a shot deflected at the buzzer that would have forced overtime. Cam Nekkers paced the Redmen with 18. Merrick Palmer led the Bengals with 21.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Toronto Runnymede Redmen defeated the Windsor W.D. Lowe Trojans 71-56 as Delawn Grandison scored 24. The Trojans led 33-30 at the half but were outscored 28-3 in the third quarter. “It was a disaster,” Trojans coach Gerry Brumpton told the Windsor Star. “We missed a few free throws in the second quarter that let them off the hook. And I think they realized it and came right after us to start the third quarter. They pressed us. We panicked, threw the ball away and didn’t get anything going the entire quarter. We finished the season at 44-7 which is a tremendous record but when you see something you’d been fighting towards all year slip away, it’s very disappointing. … I don’t know how you compete against the depth of talent they have in Toronto. Maybe they should be AAAA and the rest of us AAA. Runnymede has great talent as well and it’s hard to match up.” Runnymede led by as many as 22 in the romp. Shannon Robbins led Lowe with 15. Ian Coaton added 13.
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded Scarborough Lester B. Pearson Bengals defeated the Windsor W.D. Lowe Trojans 66-58. Lowe coach Gerry Brumpton told the Windsor Star “it was tough to get up for the third-place game. Maybe Pearson had more to play for since they had a home crowd behind them and it was their first medal of any kind.” Dave Small led the Bengals with 20. Pearson led 23-18, 34-31 and 52-46 at the quarters. Merrick Palmer told the Toronto Star the Bengals defence proved the difference. “I wanted to redeem myself for missing the shot (at the buzzer in the semi-finals against Oshawa O’Neil). There was no other way than to go out and play the best game I could. I’m happy and we’ll all be back to move up next year.” Pearson coaches Dave Lake and Phil Lawn said the squads balanced offence proved the difference. Palmer, Ritchie Lyte, Kenrick Hopkinson and Dave Small each scored 12. Ian Coaton led the Trojans with 20. Shannon Robbins added 17. The Trojans (coached by Gerry Brumpton) also included Zoran Ristic and Ottavio Mannarino.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Oshawa O’Neill Redmen defeated the top-seeded Toronto Runnymede Redmen 64-56 to capture the Durham region’s first title. The Redmen dictated the pace and completely dominated the boards. “It feels really good, especially doing something that has never been done before,” O’Neill coach Craig Andrews told the Toronto Star. “It’s a milestone, for sure.” It was also a perfect ending to the Redmen season, dedicated to former player Rob Burnett, who died earlier of the year of Hodgkin’s disease. “The only thing we talked about before the (final) game was Rob,” Andrews says. “All the players were really focused. I’m not really big on life after death, but things seemed to fall into place for us. It was a little eerie.” O’Neill led 41-18 at the half and coasted. They opened with a 16-5 run and shut down Runnymede start Delawn Grandison. ““I have a gym in my house that the players use and there’s a sign in it that reads, ‘Think OFSAA gold; nothing else’,” Andrews told the Toronto Star. “Runnymede is a class act. They worked hard to get this far as well. The difference was our focus on not just beating teams but stopping them.” Runnymede coach John Petruschak said “they were absolutely superb while everything we worked hard at all year was non-existent. We couldn’t handle their guards, missed easy layups, open shots, foul shots and on and on. The way we played, we couldn’t put a ball in the ocean. … You can’t fall behind 25 points and expect to come back and win, doesn’t matter who you play for. Our game is pressure defence and we lacked intensity and were intimidated.” Jason Podrats led O’Neill with 14. Cam Nekkers added 13, Doug Wilson 13 and Jason Medford 11. Al St. Louis paced Runnymede with 12. DeLawn Grandison added 8. The Redmen played the tournament without star Jason Daley, who injured a knee ligament in the Toronto city finals. Runnymede finished 40-5 on the campaign.
The bronze medalist Scarborough Lester B. Pearson Bengals: Dave Small; Merrick Palmer; Ritchie Lyte; Kenrick Hopkinson; Dennis Barham; Kevin Mitchell; Sherlon Chance; coach Dave Lake; coach Phil Lawn
The silver medalist Toronto Runnymede Redmen: DeLawn Grandison; Al St. Louis; Jason Daley; Ancel Edwards; Steve Anderson; Dwight Lindsay; Dwayne Hartley; Kwasi Asamoah; David Dawson; Dean Williams; Dale Williams; Aubrey Clarke; coach John Petrushchak; assistant Bruce Mason; assistant Dave McCullough
The gold medalist Oshawa O’Neill Redmen: Cam Nekkers; Jason Podrats; Doug Wilson; Jason Medford; Steve Givelas; Chris Kolesnik; Rod Johnson; Patrick Brandt; Marlon Coore; Troy Cole; Chris Elmhurst; Trevor Sharp; coach Craig Andrews; assistant Ben Birstonas; assistant Gary Blair; assistant Peter Gordon; manager Shauna McRae