In the opening round, held in Ottawa: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Scarborough Dr. Norman Bethune Bears defeated the 11th-seeded Kingston Bayridge Blazers 67-54 as 6-9 centre Damian Reid tossed in 39 points. “He had a strong board game and was really good from the foul line, hitting 80%,” Bethune coach Bob Selkirk told the Ottawa Citizen. “Bayridge changed defences on us and that gave us trouble. To double-team him and he still gets 38 …If a team is taking him outside and the guy opposite him is hitting, I’d switch Damian to some other player. But that wasn’t happening tonight.” Jeff Huddleston led Bayridge with 17 points. Jay Fraser added 15. Reid noted that “I can still get thrown off pretty easily at a tournament like this. But the coach kept telling me to make good decisions and then we’d all play better.” Bethune led by six at the half. “They really did a good job on us on the boards,” Bayridge co-coach Doug Fraser told the Kingston Whig-Standard. “But our kids played well. We just didn’t shoot the ball really well. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Thornhill Vaughn Voyageurs defeated the 14th-seeded Ajax Pickering Trojans 60-47. Vaughn outscored the Trojans 16-9 in the fourth quarter even though forward Shaun Clarke was on the bench because of an injury. Michael Jackson led Vaughn with 14. Clarke added 12. Nkosi Adams paced the Trojans with 13. Garry Brown added 11. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded St. Catharines Denis Morris Redmen defeated the 4th-seeded Scarborough Mother Teresa Titans 74-64 as coach’s son Kevin McKenna, Jr. scored 28, including a trio from beyond the arc and 7-9 from the line. Curtis Seely and Michael Ponikvar each added 19. Redmen coach Kevin McKenna Sr told the St. Catharines Standard that “we played well. We need to make some big stops at the end and we needed to make some big points at the end, and we did.” Forward Ashkan Rajaee paced Mother Theresa with 28, including 16 in the first half. Guard Dean Labayen added 15. The lead-footed Titans trailed the entire game. “We usually come out strong and it gets us in a rhythm but this was pathetic,” coach Tom Oliveri told the Toronto Star. “We missed layups, shot 35 per cent from the free-throw line. It was an embarrassment and frustrating. Maybe the controversy of losing will get us going.” When the Titans finally got around to keying on McKenna, 6-9 Michael Ponikvar took over, wreaking havoc with his ability to control rebounds. “At the beginning of the year, we couldn’t beat half the teams in our league and people didn’t expect us to do well here either,” said Michael Ponikvar, who holds the Ontario high jump record. “We came to win and it looked as if (the Titans) were either in a trance or looking ahead to the next game.” The Redmen led 22-14 after one quarter, by four at the half and then went on a 10-2 run to take a 53-41 leader after three quarters. “Those guys were hot and they outhustled us. … Everything they threw up went in,” said Rajaee. …………………………………………………… The 13th-seeded London South Lions defeated the 7th-seeded Hamilton Westdale Warriors 75-64 as 6-6 forward Jerome Jonckheere scored 23, guard Justin Thompson 22 and Lee J. Agnew 10. Guard Mark Porte paced Westdale with 17. Guard Josh Dockstator added 14. Westdale coach Paul Brankovic, who’d taken over the helm in mid-season after a player revolt which prompted co-coach John Sutula to resign, told the Hamilton Spectator that his troops had “a non-chalant attitude because of the double elimination.” …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Guelph St. James Lions defeated 15th-seeded Sault Ste. Marie Sir James Dunn Eagles 65-50. Mike King paced the Lions with 26. Mark Halpenny added 15 and Paul Larsen 10. Jordan Saunders led the Eagles with 14 and Jeff Giovanatti 13. The Lions led 31-26 at the half and 49-42 after three quarters. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded North York Bathurst Heights Bears edged 12th-seeded Windsor Catholic Central Comets 59-56 as Wayne Smith scored 21 and Steve Morrison 19. The Comets had three opportunities to take the lead in the final two minutes but came up empty and then Wayne Smith hit a pair of free throws to ice it for the Bears. “Our downfall was the second quarter,” Comets coach Peter Cusumano told the Windsor Star. “We were up 19-15 after one quarter and scored only three points in the second. We took a lot of bad first shots. We shot too fast.” The Bears led 29-22 at the half and 46-34 after three quarters before the Comets rallied to within 57-56. “In the fourth quarter, we let Charvel Chibani go one-on-one and they couldn’t stop him,” Cusumano said. “That’s what triggered our comeback. … The kids are a bit down because they felt they should’ve won the game. I thought we played the better basketball game.” Chibani scored 21, including 15 in the final quarter. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Mississauga Westwood Wildcats defeated the 9th-seeded Ottawa Woodroffe Tigers 69-61. Woodroffe clawed to a 51-40 lead after three quarters but the Wildcats exploded for 29 fourth-quarter points to pull out the win. Woodroffe was assessed 23 fouls and Westwood only 8. Westwood outscored Woodroffe 18-1 at the line. “We put them on the line and they sank what we gave them,” said Woodroffe coach John Soden told the Ottawa Citizen. “Give them full credit. They dropped just about everything.” With four Woodroffe starters carrying four fouls, Westwood stymied the Tigers’ momentum in the last two minutes 30 seconds, closing with a 12-4 run. “We played as well as you’d expect us to play,” Soden said. Robinson led Westwood with 19. Dwayne Jones added 16 and Richard Scarlett 15. Abraham Osman and David Haarsma each scored 15 to pace the Tigers. Andrew Rowe added 10. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Toronto Oakwood Barons whipped the 16th-seeded Orleans St. Peter Knights 63-47. The Knights were in the game for about five minutes before the Barons began dominating the boards. St. Peter was hurt by turnovers and the first-quarter injury to 6-3 forward Marc Fournier (sprained ankle). Oakwood ruled the boards, getting second and third shots and many unchallenged field goals under the basket. “The turnovers killed us,” Knights coach Lou Antonucci told the Ottawa Citizen. Dean Walker paced the Barons with 20. Rob Lay led the Knights with 20, including 3 treys. Mike D’Aprile added 13.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Scarborough Dr. Norman Bethune Bears thrashed the 16th-seeded Orleans St. Peter Knights 59-30 as Damian Reid scored 22. Dan Selkirk and Marlon Fearman each added 11. Shaun Alie led St. Peter’s with 8. Bethune raced to a 16-3 lead at the quarter and stretched their margin to 53-22 by the three-quarter mark. The Knights (coached by Lou Antonucci) also included Rob Lay, Marc Fournier, Mike D’Aprile, Adam Maheu. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Ottawa Woodroffe Tigers edged the 8th-seeded Thornhill Vaughan Voyageurs 54-53 as Abraham Osman scored 15. Shaun Clarke paced the Voyageurs with 18. The Voyageurs (coached by Steve Richardson) also included Kevin Scarlett, Shaun Lewis, Jason Inglis. …………………………………………………… The 12th-seeded Windsor Catholic Central Comets dumped the 5th-seeded Guelph St. James Lions 67-53 as Charbel Chibani scored 32 and Bill Davis 21. The Comets trailed by two at the half but held St. James to nine points in the final quarter. “We’ve played man-to-man pressure defence and we’ve been successful trapping the ballhandler,” said coach Pete Cusumano. “We’ve created some turnovers and picked up some easy baskets which gets discouraging for the other team if it happens often.” Paul Larson led the Lions with 11. Mark Halfpenny added 11. The Lions (coached by Bob Sharpe, assisted by Mark Tonizzo) also included Ryan Dudley, Mike King, Jon Paul Clement, Mark Melehes, Eric Giberson, Sean Byrne, Dara Murphy, Ken Smith, Kyle Leon and Dan Anstett. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded North York Bathurst Heights Bears edged the 15th-seeded Sault Ste. Marie Sir James Dunn Eagles 73-65 as Wayne Smith scored 18, Duane Dacras 13, Steve Morrison 12 and Joseph Asante 12. Jeff Giovannatti led the Eagles with 19. Rob Green added 15. The Eagles (coached by Richard Joy) also included Jordan Saunders, Tom Annett, Brent Coulas, Pat Evens, Dele Olupona. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Mississauga Westwood Wildcats clipped the 14th-seeded Ajax Pickering Trojans 71-48 as Dwayne James scored 21. Omar Nichols paced the Trojans with 15. The Trojans also included Rob Snow, Kervin Rhooms, Nkosi Adams, Claude Gaynor. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Scarborough Blessed Mother Theresa Titans whipped the 13th-seeded London South Lions 74-53 as Dean Labayen scored 24. Jason Farmer led the Lions with 17. The Lions also included Jeremy Jonckheere, Justin Thompson. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Toronto Oakwood Barons dumped the 11th-seeded Kingston Bayridge Blazers 90-69 as Dean Walker scored 35. Jay Fraser paced Bayridge with 21. Jeff Huddleston added 13 and Jeff McDonnell 12. The Blazers (coached by Bob Freeman) also included Sheldon Weekes, Ryan McLean, Ryan Bertrand, Joe Fraresso, Mike Stevenson, Bryan English, Pat Allen, Mike Letts, Jeff McDonnell and Dave Dempster. Oakwood scored 30 in the second quarter to take a 45-34 lead at the half. “We just got totally destroyed on the boards,” Bayridge co-coach Doug Fraser told the Kingston Whig-Standard. “Oakwood just wore us down on the boards throughout the whole game. We just couldn’t get any stops on defence.” …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Hamilton Westdale Warriors clubbed the 10th-seeded St. Catharines Denis Morris Redmen 77-61 as Mark Porte scored 23, Pat Greco 21 and Josh Dockstator 14. Warriors coach Paul Brankovic told the Hamilton Spectator that Mark Porte, who’d in to replace Neil Belot, who had the flu, was spectacular. “We asked him to work overtime. We asked him to take responsibility for something he wasn’t used to. He did yeoman’s work … We don’t have one superstar. We have a team that plays well together and believes in each other.” Michael Ponikvar led the Redmen with 26. Curtis Seeley added 15 and Kevin McKenna 14. The Redmen (coached by Kevin McKenna Sr., assistant Jason Thomas, manager Kerry McKenna) also included Tom Zivcic, Hari Ganapathy, John Zivcic, Paul Crummey, Matt Don, Chris McKaig, Paul Marshall, Daryl Van Moorsel, Chris Sims, D.J. Dillon, Cliff Corbin and Emil Alihodzic.
In the quarterfinals, the 12th-seeded Windsor Catholic Central Comets rode the play of 5-9 Charbel Chibani to a 59-46 upset of the 7th-seeded Hamilton Westdale Warriors. Charbel Chibani scored 23 points for the Comets, Bill Davis added 14. Forward Pat Greco topped Westdale with 24. “Charbel has been absolutely unbelievable,” coach Pete Cusumano told the Windsor Star. “He’s been taking his man to the hole off our motion offence and nobody’s been able to stop him. … We’ve played a full-court man-to-man pressure defence and we’ve been successful trapping the ball-handler. We’ve created some turnovers and picked up some easy baskets which gets discouraging for the other team if it happens often.” The Warriors (coached by Paul Brankovic) included Pat Greco, Neil Belot, Mark Porte, Josh Dockstator, Omar Adoelela, Nick Kovacs, Jesse Horner, Shaka Licorish, Nigel Quildon, Nathan McKibbon, Scott Johnson and Sam Jo.
The top-seeded Scarborough Dr. Norman Bethune Bears defeated the 9th-seeded Ottawa Woodroffe Tigers 63-51 as Reid scored 29 points. Basil Botetzayas added 15. Andrew Rowe led Woodroffe with 18, including three from beyond the arc in the third-quarter. Abraham Osman and Boz Morris each hit 9. Reid scored 12 points in the third quarter as the Bears extended their 41-30 halftime lead to 50-32. He also had 16 boards, 1 assist and 1 steal. “That was a tough game,” Reid told the Ottawa Citizen. “Give credit to that team. They fought hard. We usually face zones and their man-to-man threw us off. But we made adjustments and took care of business.” But Reid made it look easy, dunking lobs from point guard Dan Selkirk. “We tried everything to slow him down and thought there was a chance for an upset when he had four fouls late in the game and we were down by six,” Tigers coach John Soden told the Toronto Star. “That kid is an amazing player. We thought (Bethune) showed signs of fatigue and then he steps in and takes over. I told him when he makes it to the NBA that he shouldn’t forget he played against us.” Soden told the Citizen “we did all we could to try to stop him but he’s too good for us. At the half, I thought they showed signs of fatigue and they didn’t want to run. I told the players to crank it up. Then Reid stepped into the show and we got out of sync.” Although scoreless for the opening 4 minutes, the Tigers rallied to within 23-20 at the half. But the Bears kept pounding the ball inside to Reid as they rebuilt a double-digit lead. Still, the Tigers ripped off a 13-0 run to draw within 50-45 in the fourth quarter. “When you come that close, it would be nice to win,” Soden told the Citizen. “We probably played our best basketball all year in our last two games. …When you cap the season like that, that’s the way the script goes. These kids don’t know the meaning of quit. They were having so much fun playing. They keep playing streetball until they’re called off the street.” Reid told the Star that “their full-court pressure bothered us and the man-to- man coverage threw us off but give them credit, they fought hard and made this the toughest game we’ve played,” said Reid. The Tigers (coached by John Soden, assisted by Jim Langis, Max Pollard and Dino Pezoulas) included Jonathan Bell, Phillipe Jeanty, Chris Dettman, Ibrahim Ismail, Dave Haarsma, Ainsworth Morris, Boz Morris, Andrew Rowe, Miki Pantic, Mohamed Aden, Guled Aden, Abraham Osman, Abdi Mubarak, Yaqub Warsame, Adrian Jones, Toym Ajimati and Paul Leili.
The 6th-seeded Toronto Oakwood Barons defeated 3rd-seeded Mississauga Westwood Wildcats 77-75 in overtime as Dwayne Lawrence hit the winner with three seconds to play. Westwood hit 13 from beyond the arc. Lawrence scored 16 while Dean Walker paced Oakwood with 23. Jerome Robinson led Westwood with 24. The Wildcats also included Jason Stapleton, Richard Scarlett.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded North York Bathurst Heights Bears defeated the 4th-seeded Scarborough Blessed Mother Teresa Titans 64-58. The Titans included Dean Labayen, Ashkan Rajaee, Burleigh Graham, Shaun Bennett.
In the semis, held at the University of Ottawa’s Montpetit Hall, the 6th-seeded Toronto Oakwood Barons upset the 2nd-seeded North York Bathurst Heights Bears 58-51. The Barons poise, ball control and boards proved the difference. Dean Walker paced Oakwood with 15. Sam Tyson added 10. Wayne Smith led Bathurst with 18.
In other semi, the top-seeded Scarborough Dr. Norman Bethune Bears throttled the 12th-seeded Windsor Catholic Central Comets 55-33. The Bears were again paced by Damian Reid, who dominated both ends of the floor, including a steal which resulted in a bone-jarring slam. Reid scored 22 and grabbed 12 boards. Dan Selkirk, the coach’s son, added 10 on a trio from beyond the arc. Comets guard Charbel Chibani was held to 10 points, half his average. “We were very tired,” Comets coach Pete Cusumano told the Ottawa Citizen. “My two best players played every minute of the last two games. We made mistakes and the intensity and pressure just wasn’t there. It’s grueling when you only have eight players. The kids lost their leg strength.”
In the bronze medal match, the 2nd-seeded North York Bathurst Heights Bears defeated the 12th-seeded Windsor Catholic Central Comets 71-49 as Wayne Smith scored 15 and grabbed 11 boards. Duane Dacras added 12. Bill Davis led Catholic Central with 17 points. Charbel Chibani added 13. The Comets (coached by Pete Cusumano, assisted by Gallant) also included John Mastromattei, Alphonso Shreve, Liem Mach, Ali Karnib, Sam Sobh, Shem Rudowski and Franklin Torres.
In the all-Metro Toronto final, the top-seeded Scarborough Dr. Norman Bethune Bears thrashed the 6th-seeded Toronto Oakwood Barons 67-42. The win was the 20th straight for the Bears, whose last loss was to Oakwood earlier in the year. “I was confident everyone would stay focused,” said forward Tom Romas. “Our coach does a got job at that. Our intensity was unbelievable. Our defence didn’t allow anything. We knew Dean (Walker) would get his points but we wanted to shut down the others. And Damian also took care of business.” Damian Reid ignited the capacity crowd of 1,000 with 24 points, four slam-dunks and 13 rebounds. Romas added 6 points and 10 rebounds. Basil Botetzayas scored 14. Dean Walker led Oakwood with 25. Bethune took quick control of the affair by hitting four from beyond the arc and running to a 15-3 lead. They led 22-9 after a quarter. “We knew Oakwood would come gunning for us,” said Romas. “We knew we had to come out quickly and get our confidence up.”
The bronze medalist North York Bathurst Heights Bears: Wayne Smith; Duane Dacres; Steve Morrison; Joseph Asante; Simeon Powell; Randy Nelson; Tim Faulkner; Derek Asante; Liviti Clarke; Mahmoud Jama; Markus Wright; coach Bob Maydo; assistant Phillip Dixon
The silver medalist Toronto Oakwood Barons: Dean Walker; Sam Tyson; Cliff Edwards; Dwayne Lawrence; Robert Annecchini; coach Terry Thomson
The gold medalist Scarborough Dr. Norman Bethune Bears: Tom Romas; Damian Reid; Dan Selkirk; Scott Shepheard; Basil Boetzayas; Marlon Fearman; Joel Shepheard; Kalvin Charles; Mark Ferguson; Mark Darling; Wallin O’Connor; Eric Botetzayas; coach Bob Selkirk; assistant Chris Roche; assistant Eliott Kirshebaum