OFSAA postponed the Triple-A draw in Hamilton for three weeks because organizers didn’t want scheduling conflicts with the Canadian women’s curling championships, which were also hosted by the Steel City.
In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Windsor Catholic Central Comets nipped the 11th-seeded North York C.W. Jefferys Saints 49-47 in overtime as Rob Pierce scored 16, Stason Golden 15 and Tyrone Crawford 14. Emmanuel Kusi-Asare paced C.W. Jefferys with 11. The Comets rallied from a 10-point half-time deficit to pull out the win. “They should have beaten us,” Comets head coach Pete Cusumano told the Windsor Star. “They play real good competition every day. They’re athletic and they can shoot.” …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Scarborough Jean Vanier Mavericks dumped the 12th-seeded Hamilton Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs 60-46 as Jessie Simmons scored 20 and Eric Smith 16. Jacob Stull paced Churchill with 20. Danilo Pejcic added 16. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Burlington Nelson Lords stomped the 16th-seeded Unionville St. Augustine Titans 57-31 as Brady Heslip scored 16. Adrian Vanrossum led St. Augustine with 10. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Ottawa St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish crushed the 15th-seeded Ajax Archbishop Denis O’Connor 76-55 as Henock Araia scored 20, all in the second half. Jamaal Babineau added 16 and Farshad Chebani 15, including four treys in the first half. Adam Plummer led O’Connor with 22. Kashiff Dejonge added 13. The Irish were sluggish, to start, but eventually got their game in high gear, said coach Mike Rowley. “We started out slow, because of the layoff but we opened up in the second half. Once we got the rust out, we blow them off the floor basically,” said Rowley. “Once we got our legs under us, organized and calmed down a little bit we were fine. We pressed them the whole game and I think they ran out of gas in the third quarter.” …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Cambridge Southwood Secondary Sabres clipped the 9th-seeded Huntsville Hoyas 72-62 as Josh Crone scored 24 and Zach Nagtzaam 20. The Sabres led 33-22 at the half and 49-33 after three quarters. Dylan Teakle led Huntsville with 25. Yotaro Sen added 13 and Jarred Hoo 10. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded St. Catharines Governor Simcoe Redcoats crushed the 10th-seeded Peterborough Raiders 59-45 as Andrew Ferguson scored 23 and Travis Berry 21. Alex Holland led Peterborough with 16. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Toronto North Albion edged the 14th-seeded Cornwall Cougars 61-58 as Jason David scored 17 and Jason Ledgister 12. Adam Kroon led Cornwall with 17. Bruce Swinden added 14. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded London Oakridge Secondary Oaks whipped the 13th-seeded Sault Ste. Marie Korah Colts 57-36 as Matt Fennell scored 25 and Kyle Marriott 13. Nico Lovreiro led Korah with 9.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Scarborough Jean Vanier Mavericks stomped the 15th-seeded Ajax Archbishop Denis O’Connor 62-42 as Vlad Pislaru scored 18, Eric Smith 16 and Jessie Simmons 14. Tyler Peniston led O’Connor with 17. Kashiff Dejonge added 11. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Burlington Nelson Lords nipped the 11th-seeded North York C.W. Jefferys Saints 43-41 as guard Manny Campbell drove for a layup with five seconds to play. Sharif Wanas paced the Lords with 13. Brady Heslip added 12. Emmanuel Kusi-Asare paced Jefferys with 9. “I think having a game this close is very important,” Lords guard Josh Hilton told the Hamilton Spectator. “It lets us know we can do it when it comes down to the wire. On the downside, we don’t get to rest a lot of our strong players.” …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Ottawa St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish clipped the 12th-seeded Hamilton Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs 56-46 as Henock Araia scored 14, Greg Carter 12 and Soley Massunken 8. The Fighting Irish shook off three weeks of rust and played with incredible composure, particularly against “a Hamilton squad in a Hamilton gym. You can imagine what that was like. But our defensive pressure in the halfcourt and the ability of our kids to stay composed in a very adverse environment allowed us pull out the win,” said coach Mike Rowley. The Irish led 27-18 at the half. The Bulldogs rallied to within 31-28 but wilted down the stretch. “I was frustrated,” Pejcic told the Hamilton Spectator. “We were working hard, but it just wasn’t working for us.” Jacob Stull noted that “I was just proud to be here. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I just hope it inspires the team to see what the next level looks like. It just takes hard work.” Jacob Stull led Churchill with 18. Danilo Pejcic added 16. The Bulldogs (coach Jerry Romano) also included Ian McKee, Jeff Porchia, Kyle Court, Dejan Gacio, David Woods, T.J. Petrocchi, Matt Kinrad, Andrew Kostachuk and Josh Davies. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded London Oakridge Oaks dumped the 10th-seeded Peterborough Raiders 46-35 as Matt Fennell scored 31. Alex Holland led Peterborough with 15. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Cambridge Southwood Secondary stomped the 14th-seeded Cornwall Cougars 56-35 as Zach Nagtzaam scored 20, Dan Watkins 13 and Adam Gascho 10. Adam Kroon led Cornwall with 14. Bruce Swinden added 10. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Windsor Catholic Central Comets stomped the 16th-seeded Unionville St. Augustine Titans 79-45 as Robert Pierce scored 17, Stason Golden 14 and Tyrone Crawford 14. Ryan Suen led St. Augustine with 9. The Comets led by 23 at the half. “We were up 15-2 and got cute and we thought we were going to have some fun and they made it 15-13,” Comets coach Pete Cusumano told the Windsor Star. “We called timeout and got back to doing what we should.” …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded St. Catharines Governor Simcoe Redcoats crushed the 13th-seeded Sault Ste. Marie Korah Colts 88-42 as Tim Ashcraft scored 18, Jason Whittaker 18 and Pat Mroczek 15. Shane Watson and Brendon Thompson each scored 11 to pace Korah. Colts coach Jeff Giovanatti told the Sault Star that “now the guys realize what it takes to play at this level with the best in the province. … We couldn’t really finish. They hit what they needed to and we didn’t. They put a lot of pressure on us and their size was a factor.” The Colts (coached by Giovanatti) also included Nico Loureiro, Ben Ginter, Chris Casagrande, Jon Price, Matt Glibota, Scott Carson, Kyle Cormier and Jordan Murtonen. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Toronto North Albion dumped the 9th-seeded Huntsville Hoyas 50-39 as Jason Ledgister scored 16, Jason David 14 and Mohamud Omar 11. North Albion led 13-7, 23-16 and 41-29 at the quarters. Tyler Rae paced Huntsville with 10. Scott MacCauley added 10, Jarred Hoo 7 and Yotaro Sen 6. The Hoyas also included Dylan Teakle, Oliver Wolfe, Josh Fisher, Scott Barker, Jacob Austin-Edsall and C.J. MacDonald.
In the quarterfinals, 3rd-seeded Cambridge Southwood Secondary clipped the 6th-seeded Burlington Nelson Lords 49-39 as Zach Nagtzaam scored 24 and Dan Watkins 11. Sharif Wanas paced the Lords with 16. Brady Heslip added 10. The Lords (coached by Bob Stacey, assisted by John Simioni and Toge Heerwink) also included Manny Campbell, Zach Stacey, Josh Hilton, Aron Campbell, Charlie Livermore, T.J. Harb, Calvin Turnbull, Dan McMullen, Tyler Haynes, Calvin Pepper, Jared Matthew, James Napier and Bryce Wolsenholme.
The 2nd-seeded Scarborough Jean Vanier Mavericks defeated the 7th-seeded London Oakridge Oaks 63-53 as Jessie Simmons scored 19 and Kyle Ethier 12. Craig Hansford and Matt Fennell each scored 12 to pace Oakridge. The Oaks (coached by John Curcio, assisted by Dino Fotia and Devin Kenny) also included Gabe Tesafaye, Peter Scholtes, T.J. Sanders, Kyle Marriott, Bryan Rybansky, Kyan Wilson, Kevin Lee, Mike Wright, Spencer Hill, Michael Shalaby, Brandon Lucas and Khalid Elsayed.
The top-seeded Windsor Catholic Central Comets nipped 8th-seeded Toronto North Albion 47-42 as Rob Pierce scored 14, Kien Langlois 13 and Stason Golden 10. Jason Ledgister led North Albion with 16. Jason David added 12.
In the last quarterfinal, the 4th-seeded St. Catharines Governor Simcoe Redcoats whipped the 5th-seeded Ottawa St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish 72-48 as Andrew Ferguson scored 19 and Pat Mroczek 18. Greg Carter, Henock Araia and Soley Massunken each scored 11 to pace the Irish. Henock Araia added 10St. Patrick’s coach Mike Rowley said his troops were undone by a combination of factors. “We didn’t rebound the ball well at all today and our shots just wouldn’t fall. We started off great. We went on a 7-0 run and late in the first quarter we were up 18-10. But then they went to a 1-3-1 zone and our shots just didn’t fall over top of it. And we just didn’t do the job on the boards at all. The refereeing didn’t help either. I mean, the foul count was 25-10. All those things combined just don’t yield the result you want. But give Governor Simcoe credit. They’re good. I really believe they’re going to win the whole thing.” The Irish (coached by Mike Rowley, assisted by Matt Koeslag and Tina St. Amour), also included Brandon Jean, Stevy Biayi, Rolph Estin, Greg Kieran, Sean Omumia, Afeworki Gebrekerestos, Philbert Louis, Jamel Babineau, Farshad Chezani and Jesse Duodu.
In the semis, the 3rd-seeded Cambridge Southwood Secondary edged the 2nd-seeded Scarborough Jean Vanier Mavericks 52-50 as Josh Crone scored 19 and Zach Nagtzaam 16. Jessie Simmons paced Vanier with 20. Vlad Pislaru added 13.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Windsor Catholic Central Comets edged the 4th-seeded St. Catharines Governor Simcoe Redcoats 62-58 as Sean Jacob scored 16, Tyrone Crawford 14 and Stason Golden 11. Tim Ashcraft and Andrew Ferguson each notched 16 for the Redcoats. Jay Fleming added 13.
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded St. Catharines Governor Simcoe Redcoats whipped the 2nd-seeded Scarborough Jean Vanier Mavericks 66-48 as Tim Ashcraft scored 19, Andrew Ferguson 18 and Jason Fleming 15. Vlad Pislaru paced the Mavericks with 12. Hirue Bereket added 10. The Mavericks also included Jessie Simmons, Eric Smith, Kyle Ethier, Jamal Bedward and Azam Samarasekera.
In the final, the 3rd-seeded Cambridge Southwood Secondary Sabres capped their OFSAA debut by nipping the top-seeded defending champion Windsor Catholic Central Comets 39-37 as James Badder scored 16 and Mark Bevan 11. Kien Langlois paced Catholic Central with 11. Tyrone Crawford added 10. Sabres coach Rob Baird said “one of the first things we said at the start of the year was that we were going to treat every game the same. The point was when we got to a game like this, it wouldn’t seem all that different, even though, obviously, it was.” The Sabres led 15-9, 27-22 and 33-28 at the quarters. Then Southwood kept its composure in the fourth, even as Central’s Kien Langlois hit a three-pointer with 27 seconds left to pull his team to within 37-38. Southwood’s Mark Bevan made one of his foul shots with eight seconds left to ice the win. Sabres coach Rob Baird told the Hamilton Spectator that “probably one of the firs things we said at the start of the season was that we were going to treat every game the same. The point was when we got a game like this, it wouldn’t seem all that different, even though, obviously, it was.” Comets coach Pete Cusumano told the Windsor Star that “it was a close game, a one-possession game. Both teams defended like crazy. We just couldn’t get the lead.” It was the first loss in 64 games for Langlois, the 17-year-old shooting guard who was trying to finish his career unbeaten in association play.
The bronze medalist St. Catharines Governor Simcoe Redcoats: Andrew Ferguson; Travis Berry; Tim Ashcraft; Jason Whittaker; Pat Mroczek; Jason Fleming; Lirim Hajrullahu; Jake Planinc; Evan Griffith; Jake Hayward; Ed Zukanovic; coach John Dakin; coach Larry Miller; assistant Ahmed Ahmed
The silver medalist Windsor Catholic Central Comets: Rob Pierce; Stason Golden; Tyrone Crawford; Kien Langlois; Sean Jacob; Ahmed Cherry; Mark Arcangel; Jacob Cusumano; Julio Manga; Chris Corrente; Lorne Gayle; Jared Jenkins; Devon Favot; Korey Crosby; coach Pete Cusumano; assistant Paul Gebreal; assistant Dino Ruggirello
The gold medalist Cambridge Southwood Secondary Sabres: Josh Crone; Zach Nagtzaam; Dan Watkins; Adam Gascho; Mark Bevan; James Badde; Steve Kargua; Robby Thompson; Tyler Vandonk; Jake Rose; Evan Wyse; Andrew Wright; David Mendicino; Trent Faus; Greg Toth; Josh Brundage; Chad Teather; coach Rob Baird; coach Ian Watkins; assistant C. Doran