In the opening round, held in Hamilton: …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Richmond Hill Raiders defeated the 16th-seeded Kingston Bayridge Blazers 70-67 as Jared Wideman scored 25. Matt Boulton led the Blazers with 27. The Blazers included Jacob Caldwell. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints defeated the 11th-seeded Windsor Riverside Rebels 51-43. The Rebels led for most of the affair and were clinging to a 37-36 lead entering the final quarter when Jamaal Magliore took command. “The fourth quarter and some poor free-throw shooting did us in,” Rebels coach Joe Cipparone told the Windsor Star. “We missed about 10 free throws. They just wore us down in the fourth quarter. They’re very physical. They’re big kid was the difference. He had half their points and we couldn’t keep him off the boards down the stretch.” Magliore poured in 25 points, including 7-8 from the line for the defending OFSAA champions. Joe Shadd notched 14 for the Rebels. Ameet Patel added 13. “The kids gave a good account of themselves,” Cipparone said. “Everyone down here thought it would be a blowout.” The Rebels held the Saints to 22 points in the first half. Magliore snapped a 38-38 draw with 4:43 to play, igniting a critical 6-0 run. “It was a win and that’s what we’re here for, but, in fairness, we weren’t pleased and Riverside was at the top of its game,” Eastern coach Simeon Mars told the Toronto Star. “We missed a lot of easy stuff and, fortunately, so did they.” Cipparone added that “there’s no question that this was a moral victory and we had a good shot to snatch the win from (Eastern). We had them early and I also counted 10 free throws that we missed. But their big kid was the problem and we couldn’t keep him off the boards down the stretch.” …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Pickering Pine Ridge Pumas stunned the 4th-seeded Scarborough Dr. Norman Bethune Bears 48-44 as Kevin Taylor scored 13. Damian Reid led the Bears with 17. …………………………………………………… The 13th-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders stunned 7th-seeded Guelph John F. Ross Royals 66-48 as Rodney Baptiste scored 32, including 14-16 from the line, and Josh Stevenson 27. Raiders coach Mark Daly told the Hamilton Spectator that “I think that’s the real Thomas Aquinas team out there today. We played real good defence, and that’s our game. Luckily, we got into a running game. We saw that they were so big, so we thought we would press and run them right off the bat and it worked.” Bjorn Trow led the Royals with 18. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Toronto Runnymede Redmen dusted the 12th-seeded Sarnia St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish 57-39 as Damian Cain scored 14. Joe Kusnir and Matt Hehn each noted 9 for the Fighting Irish. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Mississauga Morning Star Mustangs clocked the 9th-seeded Orleans St. Matthew’s tigers 70-56 as Michael George and Aron Molnar each scored 18. Roland Tiamuh led the Tigers with 17. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Scarborough Mother Theresa Titans clipped the 15th-seeded Sudbury Lasalle Lancers 83-72 as Courtney Dennis and Duane Elder each notched 20. David Wilby, Trevor Cain and Jason Charlemagne each scored 15 to lead the Lancers. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Hamilton St. Thomas More Knights dusted the 14th-seeded Niagara Falls A.N. Myer Marauders 66-38 as Marcus Jankus scored 18, Adam Carpino 17, Ben Snaidero 11 and Peter Saracino 10. Knights coach Mark Kislinsky told the Hamilton Spectator that “I don’t know if we were 28 points better than they are. We shot very, very well in the second half. … I was a little disappointed in our defence in the first quarter. But we picked up our defence and played a good team game. We moved the ball around and that’s what been trying to do all season, to make sure that everyone is part of the offence.” The Marauders led 16-15 after one quarter. The Knights led 30-22 at the half and 54-30 after three quarters. Adam Carpino said “today we played as a team and good things happened for us.” Darin Newton paced the Marauders with 13. Rich Stepanovich added 6, Trevor Brown 5, Matt Hancock 3, Adam Boland 3 and Andrew Johnson 2. Marauders coach Tom Grantis told the Niagara Falls Review that “I don’t think we ever played against a team that shot that high (a percentage). And ours were hard to come by. Basically, they beat us with the way they shot the ball and their guards gave us more trouble that we expected.” Early foul trouble for Richie Stefanson also “hurt us,” he added. “Richie is a big part of our offence.” Darin Newton said “it was a rough game … Nobody could stop (Jankus). That got us down when we couldn’t stop him.”
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints defeated the 16th-seeded Kingston Bayridge Blazers 73-68 as Jamaal Magliore scored 17, Collin Charles 12 and Calvin Meikle 11. Matt Boulton led Bayridge with 23, including three from beyond the arc. Jay Fraser added 15, James Condie 13 and Bryan English 10. Bayridge coach Jim Crozier told the Kingston Whig-Standard that was delighted with his team’s effort. “I was proud of them. They earned a lot of respect. I don’t think we were justified in being the 16th seeded. We had Eastern guys telling our players, `You guys should have been the No.2 seeded.’ They knew they had been in a ball game. …It was a phenomenal game in terms of what we did with their big players. Our defensive effort was incredible. Eastern Commerce doesn’t shoot too well from the perimeter and we did a good job of shutting down their inside game.” The Blazers (coached by Crozier) also included Jacob Caldwell, Aldridge, Allen, Beck, Bryant, Letts. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Richmond Hill Raiders defeated the 11th-seeded Windsor Riverside Rebels 65-55. Riverside led 21-15 after one quarter. Richmond Hill led 34-32 at the half and 53-45 after three quarters. Jared Wideman paced the Raiders with 24. Ralph Lewis added 15 and Curtis Clarek 14. Joe Shadd led Riverside with 18. The Rebels (coached by Joe Cipparone) also included Ameet Patel, John Fletcher, Imokjah Atogwe, Ron Andriash, Doug Maerzluft, Dean Papineau. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Hamilton St. Thomas More Knights clipped the 9th-seeded Orleans St. Matthew Tigers 69-62 as Marcus Jankos and Ben Snaidero each scored 20. Adam Carpino added 13 and Peter Saracino 11. Gregg Martin and David Schow each notched 18 to lead the Tigers. Prasanth Tella added 10. The Tigers (coached by Jim Kent) also included Roland Tiamuh, Vasco Martinov, Jason Frederick, Jason Lavictoire. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Scarborough Dr. Norman Bethune Bears edged the 13th-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders 48-45 as Dan Selkirk scored 18, Damian Reid 13 and Scott Shepherd 10. Josh Stevenson led the Raiders with 20. Rodney Baptiste added 14. The Raiders (coach Mark Daly) also included Rodney Baptiste. Daly told the Hamilton Spectator that “we played hard and gave a great team a great run.” …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Guelph John F. Ross Royals dusted the 10th-seeded Pickering Pine Ridge Pumas 65-41 as Bjorn Trow and Geoff McNeill each scored 20. Kevin Taylor led the Pumas with 14. Quincy Providence added 12. The Pumas also included Mark Gilkes. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Toronto Runnymede Redmen nipped the 15th-seeded Sudbury Lasalle Lancers 68-65 as Damian Cain scored 16, Tyrone Smith 14 and Kurt Henry 10. David Wilby led the Lancers with 12. Peter Bouillon added 11. The Lancers also included Trevor Cain, Jason Charlesmagne. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Mississauga Morningstar Mustangs dumped the 14th-seeded Niagara Falls A.N. Myer Marauders 65-51 as Michael George scored 18 (also reported as 22), Craig Morgan 12 (also reported as 13) and Aron Molnar 12. The Mustangs led 12-5, 29-19 and 43-28 at the quarters. Rich Stefanovich led the Marauders with 18. Darin Newton added 9, along with 10 boards, Rob McDonald 8, Jeff Mulligan 7 and Trevor Brown 5. The Marauders (coach Tom Grantis, assistant Bob Coull) also included Andrew Johnson, Steve Boskovic, Kun Kim, Matt Hancock, Ryan Sills, Adam Boland and Jeff Collett. Marauders coach Tom Grantis told the Niagara Falls Review that “the guys played with a little more heart than yesterday. Against these guys, we knew we had to pack it in on offence and hoped they missed their outside shots. The problem was we couldn’t score in the first half. We had some good looks at the basket and it didn’t fall for us. It’s hard to win only with defence. You have to score a bit.” …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Scarborough Mother Theresa Titans clipped the 12th-seeded Sarnia St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish 70-59 as Ashkan Rajaee scored 24 and Duane Elder 13. Matt Hehn led the Fighting Irish with 22.
In the quarterfinals, the 3rd-seeded Mississauga Morningstar Mustangs defeated the 6th-seeded Richmond Hill Raiders 77-56 after leading 31-28 at the half. The Mustangs took control with a 12-0 run early in the second half, as part of a decisive 24-4 third quarter. “They paid too much attention to our big player (6-11 centre Aron Molnar) and left the door open for the others,” Mustangs coach John Rodger told the Toronto Star. “I’ve always said we have some great players and when they gave us the chance, we just took advantage. It was also evident that our defensive pressure wore them down.” Craig Morgan led the Mustangs with 19. Dale Jackson added 15, including 12 in the second half. Molnar added 14 and Simran Virk 10. Jared Wideman led Richmond Hill with 24. Marcus Sutton-Herbert added 12. “We tried to change it around a bit when things started to slide and they shut down our three-point game,” said Richmond Hill coach Mark Girdler. “But things just backfired. They kept scoring. We failed to stop them and it was out of reach.” The Raiders (coached by Girdler) also included Ralph Lewis, Curtis Clarke.
The top-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints defeated the 8th-seeded Hamilton St. Thomas More Knights 77-65 as Jamal Magliore scored 33, Wilton Edwards 13 and Calvin Meikle 11. Marcus Jankus led Sir Thomas More with 21. Adam Carpino added 17 and Ben Snaidero 14. Knights assistant Gino Conciatore told the Hamilton Spectator that “the big guy (Magliore) did everything. He just dominated inside. The other phenomenal thing is his foul shooting – he just didn’t miss a foul shot and that’s a great thing for a big guy.” The Knights (coached by Mark Kislinsky, assisted by Gino Conciatori and Ron Palladino) also included Dave Bonitatibus, Serge Fuca, Andre Cockett, Paul Lowe, Phil Carlos, Max Boateng, Ed Boateng, Adam Krais and Peter Saracino.
The 2nd-seeded Toronto Runnymede Redmen defeated the 4th-seeded Scarborough Dr. Norman Bethune Bears 72-50 as Tyrone Smith scored 20. Damian Reid led Bethune with 21. The Bears also included Tom Romas.
In the last quarterfinal, the 5th-seeded Scarborough Blessed Mother Teresa Titans defeated the 7th-seeded Guelph John F. Ross Royals 75-64 as Ashkan Rajaee scored 30. Justin Sudds led the Royals with 16. The Royals (coach Dale Smith) also included Bjorn Trow, Geoff McNeill, Don Wilson, Ken Hodgkins, Ryan Duffield.
In the semi-finals, the top-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints defeated 5th-seeded Scarborough Blessed Mother Teresa Titans 81-55 as Jamaal Magliore scored 31. Duane Elder led the Titans with 26.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Toronto Runnymede Redmen defeated the 3rd-seeded Mississauga Morningstar Mustangs 51-50. Mustangs gunner Michael George bounced a final shot to win it off the back of the iron at the buzzer. Tyrone Smith led the Redmen with 18. Aron Molnar paced the Mustangs with 17.
In the bronze medal match, the 5th-seeded Scarborough Blessed Mother Teresa Titans defeated the 3rd-seeded Mississauga Morningstar Mustangs 86-81. Mother Teresa rallied from a four-point halftime deficit to take an 11-point lead after three quarters. Duane Elder scored 30, including 8 treys, to pace the Titans. “He was incredible; he just took control with the outside shot,” Titans coach Ron Burrows told the Toronto Star. “This was no fluke. He’s been doing it all year.” Elder said “I was in a slump throughout this tournament and I’m graduating this year so I really wanted my last game to be my best. It feels good to go out with a medal, I just wished it was the gold one.” Aron Molnar, Morningstar’s 6-11, 245-pound post player, scored 27 while Mike George added 23. The Mustangs also included Craig Morgan, Phil Constantino, Simran Virk and Dale Jackson.
In the final, the top-seeded Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints defeated the 2nd-seeded Toronto Runnymede Redmen 65-54 as Jamaal Magliore scored 17 and Calvin Meickle 18 and 13 rebounds. “People didn’t know much about me but I think that has changed,” Meikle told the Toronto Star. “I was told to pound it inside, handle the boards and get all the points I could. But it was tough. Runnymede is a great team and we had to really work for the win.” Runnymede coach John Petrushchak said abysmal shooting and the Saints’ size undid his Ravens. “We had to play them perfectly and every time the lead was cut, we just seemed to make mental mistakes. They did things better than us and (Meikle) just kept hammering the points in.” Eastern led 14-6, 33-22 and 46-30 at the quarters. When Magliore was forced to the bench in foul trouble, Meikle stepped in off the bench. Damian Cain led the Ravens with 24. The Saints finished 34-1 on the campaign. After the season, Magliore accepted an athletic scholarship from Kentucky as part of a package deal in which coach Simeon Mars took on an assistant coaching position. Toronto Eastern Commerce, viewed as the bad boy of Hogtown hoops. Mars openly recruited players from other teams. Mars took over the team two years earlier. They wore black. They sported tattoos. Principal Bob Nicholson was said to accept any student with a transcript and a jumpshot. Athletes hoping to get U.S. scholarships were encouraged to enrol at Commerce because of Mars’ ostensible connections. He lured Magliore to Commerce from Scarborough Wexford Collegiate. Transfers were allowed by the Toronto school board without penalty, although other boards ban students from playing sports if they switched schools for athletic reasons.
The bronze medalist Scarborough Blessed Mother Teresa Titans: Duane Elder; Ashkan Rajaee; Shaun Bennett; Richard Gallacher; Chaka Harris; Sean DeGraaff; Clifford Brown; coach Ron Burrows
The silver medalist Toronto Runnymede Redmen: Tyrone Smith; Damian Cain; Leighton Henry; Kurt Henry; Clive Williams; Danny Amponsah; Omar Pompey; Peter Akinsipe; Curtis Domize; Quincy Trim; Damion Waite; Kacey Hill; Jamie Mitchell; Mark Damon; coach John Petruschak; assistant Bruce Mason; assistant Paul Melnik
The gold medalist Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints; Jamaal Magliore; Collin Charles; Wilton Edwards; Jason Forde; Calvin Meikle; Shawn Wyse; Aaron Grant; Jason Forde; Calvin Meikle; Dwayne Beckford; Erick Wynter; Waleed Belcher; Dwight Loback; Shawn Dwyer; coach Simeon Mars; assistant Desmond Rowley; academic adviser Nobuko Khan; trainer Nathan Whynder