In the opening round, held in Sudbury: …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Peterborough Raiders dumped the 16th-seeded Mississauga Applewood Heights Axemen 82-55 after leading 23-14, 41-27 and 65-44 at the quarters. Greg Surmacz paced the Raiders with 29. Jeff Bolton added 22, Jonas Isaac 10, Chris White 8, Jamie Tudhope 6, Gabe Hulsman 5, Ryan Mandsley 2 and Wilson Brogon 1. Derrick Ogden led Applewood with 21. Charles Stephens added 13, Andre Blake 10, Chris Cooper 7, Dale Essue 2 and Bulet Ajay 2. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Hamilton Sherwood Saints dumped the 11th-seeded London Westminster Wildcats 70-48 after leading 23-11, 42-21 and 53-37 at the quarters. Dejan Grkovic paced the Saints with 19. Nick Pankerichan added 15, Eric McGregor 10, Andrew Corby 8, Scott Horlacher 7, Anthony Rennie 6, Richardo Johnson 3, Andreas Houlios 1 and Rolyns Edwards 1. Omar Abdul-Karim paced the Wildcats with 13. Vladimir Brkljac added 10, Moe Fares 9, Chin-Wai Wong 5, Scott Penny 4, Omar Youssef 3, Jason Bernard 2 and Phil Walker 2. …………………………………………………… Dwayne Johnson scored 29, Steven Bell 17, Abdi Omar 13, Garry Gallimore 12, O’Neil Creighton 5 and Alin Yusuf 5 as the 3rd-seeded Ottawa Woodroffe Tigers crushed the 9th-seeded Brantford Assumption Lions. The Tigers led 23-11, 37-23 and 51-35 at the quarters. Eric Gauthier paced the Lions with 15 on five treys. MacKenzie Milmine added 11, Drew Birka 8, Dave Bui 8, Matt Bruyn 4, Mike Hayman 2 and Brandon Crowe 1. Woodroffe coach Jimmy Langis told the Ottawa Citizen that his Tigers took a 14-point lead at the half “and wore Assumption down in the second half. We killed them inside. Even though we were impatient early against the press, we finally settled down and took control.” Lions coach Brian Jonker told the Brantford Expositor that “the wheels kind of fell off. They went on a big run and we couldn’t stop the bleeding.” …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Sarnia St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish edged the 14th-seeded Sudbury Lasalle Lancers 49-41 and Andrew Wedemire scored 15, Kurtis Kraemer added 9, Joe Marinaro 7, Paul Robinson 6, Matt Ross 6, Pat Wright 4 and Dan Donohue 1. Joel Cayen paced Lasalle with 14. Geoff MacRae added 9, Mike Asunmaa 6, Jordan Clouthier 5, Brady Bolan 6 and Matt Stevens 2. LaSalle led 11-10, 24-22 and 35-34 at the quarters. Cayen said St. Patrick’s size was overwhelming, while Lancers did themselves no favors by missing 15 free throws. Lasalle built an early 21-14 lead but the Irish trimmed it to 24-22 at the half. Lasalle led 35-34 after three quarters but back-to-back treys turned the tide in the Irish favor. Cayen told the Sudbury Star that “when you play this level, you have no choice: you have to play perfect. They had a lot of size on us.” Lasalle coach Mitch Lalonde said his troops’ free-throw shooting was atrocious. “They made theirs and we didn’t make ours. They also took us out of our offence. We couldn’t run our offence. It wasn’t a pretty game to watch either way. On defence, they just sort of put us out on the perimeter, spread out our defence.” The fourth quarter scoring drought proved the Lancers undoing, he added. “We make some key baskets and field shots and we’re right back in the game.” Irish coach David Howson was elated with his squad’s free throw shooting and defence. “We try to spread the floor and isolate certain kids.” …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Kingston Frontenac Falcons dumped the 13th-seeded Huntsville Hoyas 58-34 as Stu Turnbull scored 20, Rob Saunders 10, Dee Sterling 6, Craig Smith 4, Dave Soutter 4, Dan Adams 3, Wil Hunter 3, Dan Steele 2, Josh Torres 2, Justin Wallace 2 and Darryl Cleary 2. The Falcons led 17-5, 34-13 and 52-17 at the quarters. “We played good defence, controlled the boards and handled [Huntsville’s] top players well,” Falcons coach Suche James told the Kingston Whig-Standard. Assistant James Wallace added that “we jumped out fast and got a good lead, which allowed us to get everyone some playing time. We played Huntsville at the Queen’s tournament and beat them pretty well. From what I saw [yesterday], they didn’t change a whole lot of things.” Wes Stayer led Huntsville with 7. Colin McPherson added 6, Jon Baker 5, Phil Mathies 5, Kyle Nickason 4, Kevin Baker 3, Ian Dutkiewicz 2 and Rob Belis 2. Hoyas coach George Hoo told the Huntsville Forester that “they were a good team but we were very nervous. We missed tow easy layups early in the game and that hurt us psychologically. We didn’t shoot the ball very well after that.” …………………………………………………… Omar Sybbliss scores 16, Paulo Santana 15, Steve Jones 14, Iffy Ehirim 13, Tess Sowumi 5, Abdi Jibril 2 and Mark Harriott 2 as the 4th-seeded Toronto Central Commerce Riders crushed the 10th-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders 67-49. The Riders led 13-10 after one quarter. Aquinas led 24-23 at the half. Commerce led 46-37 after three quarters. Ivan Chiariaev scored 21, Mark Prskalo 13, Adam Cross 10, Steve Meagher 2, Trevor Csima 2 and John Burgess 1 for Aquinas. …………………………………………………… Orlando Hall scored 14, Roman Green 14, Lawrence Jermain 12, Chris Thompson 6, Kamar Burke 4, Navanga Burke 4, Sover Aransibia 2 and Jordan Bullen 1 as 2nd-seeded Toronto North Albion dumped the 12th-seeded Sault Ste. Marie St. Mary’s Knights 57-40. North Albion led 16-4, 33-13 and 42-28 at the quarters. Wes Ontonovich notched 13, Jake Tomas 11, Matt Chaimbrone 8, Adam Zuccato 6 and Kevin Nanne 2 for St. Mary’s. Knights coach Loris Pecile told the Sault Star that “we didn’t shoot well at all and that killed us. … Chambrione was 0-of-10 in the first half. Everything he put up went off the rim; it just wasn’t him. All of our shooting was bad.” …………………………………………………… Oliver Prince tossed in 20, Andrew Lomend 15, Daniel Smith 14, Brian Pasilva 9, Brandon Prince 6, Nedrie Simmons 5, Keenan Gordon 5, Kyle Reid 4, Tyrone Harbans 4, Bobby Walters 3, Chris Cheng 3 and Daniel Fuller 2 as the 5th-seeded Scarborough Jean Vanier Mavericks whipped the 15th-seeded Oshawa R.S. McLaughlin Trojans 90-49. The Mavericks led 19-11, 43-19 and 66-27 at the quarters. Chris Blackman led McLaughlin with 21. John Baker added 8, Brian Bell 8, Nick Forrest 6, Pat Fishman 3 and Steve Wiggens 3.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Toronto North Albion dumped the 15th-seeded Oshawa R.S. McLaughlin Trojans 54-41 as Roban Green scored 23, Ramar Burke 9, Sover Aransibia 7, Chris Thompson 6, Orlando Hall 5 and Jermaine Lawrence 4. Brian Bell scored 12 and Chris Blackman 11 to pace McLaughlin. John Baker added 8, Nick Forrest 5, Pat Fishman 3. North Albion led 17-12, 34-24 and 44-32 at the quarters. …………………………………………………… Andrew Lomond scored 22, Nendrie Simmons 9, Oliver Prince 8, Daniel Smith 8, Keenan Gordon 8, Kyle Reid 5 and Brian DaSilva 2 as 5th-seeded Scarborough Jean Vanier Mavericks dispatched 12th-seeded Sault Ste. Mary St. Mary’s 62-46. Matt Chaimbrone paced St. Mary’s with 21. Jake Tomas added 8, Antonio Polito 5, Adam Zucatto 4, Wes Ontonovich 3, Jason Ross 2 and Kyle Dugas 2. The Mavericks led 18-11, 41-21 and 50-29 at the quarters. The Knights (coached by Loris Pecile) also included Joey Lamon, B.J. Denneny, Kevin Nanne. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Kingston Frontenac Falcons waxed 10th-seeded Oakville St. Thomas Aquinas 64-29 as Stu Turnbull scored 23, Rob Saunders 15, Josh Torres 10, Wil Hunter 5, Dan Adams 4, Dee Sterling 3, Craig Smith 2 and Darryl Cleary 2. Towering 7-1 post Ivan Chiariev led Aquinas with 18. Trevor Csima added 5, David Commisso 2, John Burgess 2 and Adam Cross 2. The Falcons led 12-7, 25-15 and 47-29 at the quarters. The Falcons dominated the final frame by a 17-0 count. …………………………………………………… Iffy Ehirim scored 20, Omar Sybbliss 18, Paulo Santana 13, Tess Sowunmi 11, Abdil Jibril 8, Mark Harriott 6 and Steve Jones 5 as the 4th-seeded Toronto Central Commerce Riders pounded the 13th-seeded Huntsville Hoyas 81-53. Kevin Barker led Huntsville with 17. Colin McPherson and Phil Mathies each added 10, Wes Stayer 8, Rob Bellis 4 and Erich Leidums 3. The Hoyas (coached by George Hoo, assisted by David Mathies and Iggy Van Kooten) also included Ian Dutkiewicz, Kyle McKason, Wesley Stayer and Jonathan Baker. Huntsville led 20-13 after one quarter. Commerce led 35-34 at the half and 56-42 after three quarters. Hoyas coach George Hoo told the Huntsville Forester that “we ran out of steam in the second half and the other team had a very deep bench and we just couldn’t hold them off.” …………………………………………………… Garry Gallimore scored 19 and Dwayne Johnson 16 as the 3rd-seeded Ottawa Woodroffe Tigers defeated the 14th-seeded Sudbury Lasalle Lancers 50-41. Matt Stevens led Lasalle with 14. Geoff MacRae adds 10. Gallimore notched 13 of his points in the second half, hitting a pair of treys off screens and notching a monstrous slam dunk while being fouled. He hit a free throw to give the Tigers a decisive 15-point lead from which the Lancers never recovered. LaSalle had taken an early 21-11 lead but Woodroffe rallied to within 23-17 at the half, took command early in the third and romped. “Garry came up huge,” Woodroffe coach Jimmy Langis told the Ottawa Citizen. “He was super solid all game, even though we had trouble with their zone. And we picked up our defence in the fourth quarter.” LaSalle guard Geoff MacRae told the Sudbury Star that the Lancers “showed a lot of heart out there. We played together as a team. When you go out there to play, you leave everything on the court and we did.” Lasalle coach Mitch Lalonde said that “I thought for a while we had them. We were just trying to make it close, make them play a good, wide defence and tire them out. We did what we said we were going to do. It wasn’t a blowout game. … Our guys have nothing to be ashamed of. Two good games against two good teams and we could have won both.” The Tigers did a great job of closing off the paint in the second half. When we tried to get inside and get to the basket, we did it in the first half. But then we broke down (in the second half).” Langis said his Tigers were thrown off their game early. ‘We were a little impatient and it hurt us. In the second half, we had better coverage. We didn’t give them anything inside.” Gallimore was incredible, Langis added. “He’s been our leader this year. He made some big rebounds. He scored the important hoops. And when he went to the line, he made them.” The Lancers (coached by Mitch Lalonde) also include Joel Cayen. …………………………………………………… Andrew Wedemire scores 22 and Matt Ross 16 as the 8th-seeded Sarnia St. Patrick Fighting Irish defeated the 9th-seeded Brantford Assumption Lions 57-45. Matt Bruyn led the Lions (coached by Brian Jonker) with 13. Tyler Broda added 7, Drew Birka 6, Dave Bui 6, Mackenzie Milmine 5, Brandon Crowe 5, Ereic Gauther 2 and Mike Hayman 1. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Peterborough Raiders dumped 11th-seeded London Westminster 73-55 as Jeff Borton scored 33, Chris White 14 and Greg Surmacz 14. Vladimir Brkljac led Westminster with 17. Moe Fares added 15 and Omar Abdul-Karim 12. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Hamilton Sherwood thrashed the 16th-seeded Mississauga Applewood Heights Axemen 89-57 as Dejan Grkovic scored 19, Andrew Corry 15, Scott Horlacher 11 and Nick Pankerichan 10. Derrick Ogden paced Applewood with 30. Andre Blake added 16 and Charles Stephens 10.
In the quarterfinals, the 6th-seeded Peterborough Raiders stunned the 3rd-seeded Woodroffe Tigers 66-56 as Jeff Bolton scored 25, Greg Surmacz 16, Chris White 11, Jamie Tudhope 7 and Isaac Jones 7. Woodroffe led 24-23 at the half. Garry Gallimore paced the Tigers with 20. Dwayne Johnson added 11, Steven Bell 9, Omar Abdi 6, Alin Yusef 4, Aaron Blakely 3 and O’Neil Creighton 3. “We ran out of gas,” Woodroffe assistant Jimmy Langis told the Ottawa Citizen. “Peterborough shot the lights out in the second half while we got tired and started missing easy shots and were slow rotating on defence.” The Tigers (coached by Adrienne Codette, assisted by Andy Waterman and Jimmy Langis) also included Abdi Hassan, Alex Cvoro and Osman Abdi.
Hamilton Sherwood topped the Sarnia St. Patrick Fighting Irish 57-52 as Nick Pankerichan scored 17, Andrew Corry 14, Dejan Grkovic 13, Scott Horlacher 11 and Anthony Rennie 2. St. Patrick led 17-13 after one quarter and 32-23 at the half. The Saints led 41-38 after three quarters. Paul Robinson and Matt Ross each scored 12 for St. Patrick. Andrew Wedemire added 7, Pat Wright 7, Matthew Smith 6, Joe Marinaro 6 and Dan Donohue 2.
The 7th-seeded Kingston Frontenac Falcons stunned Toronto North Albion 51-44 as Stu Turnbull scored 23, Craig Smith 9, Rob Saunders 7, Dee Sterling 7, Josh Torres 4 and Darryl Cleary 1. Frontenac led 16-15, 31-23 and 43-29 at the quarters. Kamar Burke paced North Albion with 22. Rohan Green added 11, Jermaine Lawrence 6, Jordan Bullen 4 and Sover Aransibia 1. “Stu’s having a terrific tournament,” Falcons coach Suche James told the Kingston Whig-Standard. “He decided that he wants to carry this team and that’s what he’s doing.” Frontenac opened the final frame with a 17-0 run.
In the last quarterfinal, the Toronto Central Commerce Riders defeated the Scarborough Jean Vanier Mavericks 66-58 as Iffy Ehirim scored 24, Steve Jones 20, Paulo Santana 9, Mark Harriott 6, Omar Sybbliss 4, Tess Sowunmi 2 and Aliy Jama 1. Commerce led 19-11, 31-24 and 45-40 at the quarters. Oliver Prince led Vanier with 18. Keenan Gordon added 12, Brian DaSilva 10, Andrew Lomend 7, Daniel Smith 7 and Nedrie Simmons 4.
In the semi-finals, the 7th-seeded Kingston Frontenac Falcons nipped the Peterborough Raiders 56-52 as Stu Turnbull scored 18, Craig Smith 16, Rob Saunders 8, Will Hunter 6, Dee Sterling 4, Josh Torres 2 and Darryl Cleary 2. Frontenac led 13-11 after one quarter and 27-26 at the half. The Raiders led 41-37 after three quarters. With Turnbull returned from the bench with four minutes to play in foul trouble and the Falcons trailing by six. But “we played unbelievable defence” thereafter, coach Suche James told the Kingston Whig-Standard. Craig Smith shutdown Raiders star Greg Surmacz in the final minutes. “Even though [Surmacz] scored 24 points, Craig did such a great job on him.” Turnbull scored 11 in the final quarter to key the comeback, including “two huge shots,” James said, one of them a trey. Saunders clinched the win in the dying seconds. He snared the rebound off a missed free throw, was fouled and sank both of his foul shots. Greg Surmacz led Peterborough with 24. Jeff Borton added 14, Chris White 7, Issac Jones 3, Ryan Maudsley 2 and Jamie Tudhope 2.
In the other semi, the 4th-seeded Toronto Central Commerce Riders upset the top-seeded Hamilton Sherwood Saints 53-51 as Paulo Santana scored 18, Steve Jones 10, Mark Harriott 8, Iffy Ehirim 8, Omar Sybbliss 5, Aliy Jama 3 and Tess Sowunmi 1. Commerce led 17-9 after one quarter. Sherwood led 28-25 at the half. Commerce led 41-40 after three quarters. Dejan Grkovic paced Sherwood with 28. Nick Pankerichan added 9, Andrew Corry 6, Anthony Rennie 6 and Scott Horlacher 2.
In the bronze medal match, top-seeded Hamilton Sherwood defeated the 6th-seeded Peterborough Raiders 43-36. The Raiders led 8-6 after one quarter. Sherwood led 16-15 at the half. The Score was knotted at 37 after three quarters. Dejan Grkovic paced the Saints with 17. Scott Horlacher added 8, Anthony Rennie 8, Andrew Corry 6 and Nick Pankerichan 4. Greg Surmacz led the Raiders with 18. Chris White added 8, Jeff Bolton 8 and Isaac Jones 2. The Raiders (coached by Dave Goulding, assisted by Tyler Smith) also included Tom Baginski, Gabe Hulsman, Elliot Dagenais, Ryan Maudsley, Nick Beamish, Brogan Wilson and Jamie Tudhope.
In the final, the 7th-seeded Kingston Frontenac Falcons defeated the 4th-seeded Toronto Central Commerce Riders 58-49. Frontenac led 12-10, 35-19 and 43-36 at the quarters. Stu Turnbull led Frontenac with 22 points. Rob Saunders added 10, Will Hunter 10, Craig Smith 8, Darryl Cleary 6 and Dee Sterling 2. Paulo Santana paced Central Commerce with 14. Iffy Ehirim added 10, Steve Jones 9, Tess Sowunmi 6, Mark Harriott 6 and Omar Sybbliss 4. “It’s surreal right now,” Falcons coach Suche James told the Kingston Whig-Standard. “They’re special kids. They had a goal in mind and had the tunnel vision of what they wanted to do. They’d come down and dunk, we’d go down and shoot a three. That’s just that type of character we have. That’s what this team is made of.” James told the Sudbury Star that “the kids played their hearts out and that’s the bottom line. They wanted this so bad and they knew it from the beginning, and no one would believe in them. It’s funny, at the beginning of the season, no one even picked us to win Kingston, not one coach in the preseason article The Whig wrote. And now we won AAA OFSAA and it’s unbelievable. It’s still kind of surreal that we’ve done this.” James added that it was a total team effort. “That’s what we preached the whole time. We knew athletically, individually, we’d be outmatched sometimes, so our concept, as it was throughout the year, was to play tough team defence because that’s what wins championships. We knew it would be no different at OFSAA.” That and the steel nerves of Turnbull, who hit 7-8 down the line to ice the win for Frontenac. “He’s unbelievable and he turned a lot of heads this week,” said James. “He’s got to be one of the best players in the province. And he was an unknown quantity at the start of the year and no one wanted him. Now he’s the man.” Turnbull started slowly in the final, hitting only two of his first eight. But he kept gunning and found his stroke with a 3-3 effort in the second quarter. “My teammates have been behind me all year and they don’t get down on me if I’m missing my shots,” said Turnbull. “They tell me to keep shooting and they stay positive, so I do and eventually, I’ll hit them. I’ve spent a lot of time in the gym late at night. The janitor’s been letting me practice and we play all year long and this is what we dream about.” Turnbull called the championship experience “incredible. You don’t get to play in an atmosphere like this too often. I don’t think from the opening tip many people gave us much of a chance but once they saw us play, they gave us a little more hope.” The Falcons outscored Commerce 23-9 in the second quarter and led 35-19 at the half. Will Hunter came off the bench and drained two treys and that seemed “to spark everybody up,” James told the Whig-Standard. “We won the game on that run right there.” But Toronto rallied with a 17-8 run to trim the margin to 43-37 and then crawled within 49-46 with two minutes to play before Turnbull iced it at the line as the Riders were forced to foul. “It was tough because we haven’t had a lot of close games this year,” Turnbull told the Star. “But we regrouped, some of our leaders stepped up and we got through it.” Central Commerce coach Larry Laughlin lamented a lackluster defensive effort in the first half. “We didn’t play any defence and fell too far behind. We almost pulled it off, got within three, but when you dig yourselves a big hole like that in a big game like this, it’s too hard to come back. We showed some heart. We told them at the half that it can be done, just chip away slowly. Our goal was to get it under 10 for the fourth and we did that. But it just went their way and all the power to them.” James told the Whig-Standard that “Stu Turnbull led our team the whole tournament. He did everything. All the coaches said he’s just a special kid. He does everything you need to do, rebound, play defence and he averaged 20 points per game. Just unbelievable.” Turnbull told the Star that the title “will be huge back home. We’ve never won basketball before. It was 16 or 17 years since we last won the city championships. The support back home has been great, and they’ll be excited. We opened some eyes. We don’t get seen a lot and we don’t get much respect out of Kingston, but we’ll definitely get that respect now.”
The bronze medalist Hamilton Sherwood Saints: Nick Pankerichan; Dejan Grkovic; Eric McGregor; Andrew Corby; Anthony Rennie; Scott Horlacher; Richardo Johnson; Rolyns Edwards; Andreas Houlios; Ben Kajaste; Abdullah Mohamed; Leon Francis; coach Chris Thomaidis; assistant Nick White
The silver medalist Toronto Central Commerce Riders: Paulo Santana; Iffy Ehirim; Steve Jones; Tess Sowunmi; Mark Harriott; Omar Sybbliss; Aliy Jam; Phil Guerreiro; Abdi Jibril;
The gold medalist Kingston Frontenac Falcons: Stuart Turnbull, Rob Saunders; Josh Torres; Dee Sterling; Will Hunter; Dan Adams; Craig Smith; Darryl Cleary; Dave Soutter, Dan Steele; Justin Wallace; coach Suche James; assistant Bruce Black; assistant James Wallace