Final regular season standings: Orangeville Prep (18-2); TRC Academy (18-2); Athlete Institute Prep (17-3); Bill Crothers SS (13-7); Lincoln Prep (9-11); Ridley College (9-11); Thornlea SS (8-12); Southwest Academy (7-13); Father Henry Carr (5-15); Vaughan SS (5-15); King’s Christian (1-19)
Seeds 1-5 received a bye into the quarterfinals.
In the opening round, held in Toronto: …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Thornhill Thornlea SS Thunder whipped 10th-seeded the Thornhill Vaughan SS Prep Voyageurs 120-90. The Voyageurs, in the first year in the league (coached by Gus Gymnopoulos, assisted by Eddie Moss, Elaine Birta, John Glezakos and Claude Nembhard) included O’Shane Taylor-Douglas, Kascius Small-Martin, William Tran, James Canlas, Ben Kwawukumey, Wazir Latiff, Joseph Thomas, Jacorey Hunte, Enrique Rodriguez, Kamron Mirshahi, Nick Kwawukumey, Kevin Evbagharu, Kyle Mongroo and Taryn Todd. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded St. Catherines Ridley College dispatched 11th-seeded Oakville King’s Christian 86-66. The Cavaliers, in their first year in the league (coached by Zelimir Stevanovic, assisted by Ray Kim and Junior Taylor) included Jayden Grewal, Luka Sakota, Alexander Nwagha, Coleman Stucke, Shamar Walker, Robert Mannela, Kobe Antwi, John-Lewis Morvan, Cameron Hayhoe, Gabe Taneza and Sam Thomson. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Father Henry Carr Crusaders thrashed 8th-seeded London Southwest Academy 116-74. Southwest Academy (coached by Kevin Barnes, assisted by Quinn Henderson and Ryan Higgins) included Josh Mesalla, Owen Henderson, Dakelle Brooks, Xavier Ochu, Stefan Jovcic, Quinton Duckworth, Ryan Brunelle, Vince Carierre, Minas Abara and Quinn Donelan.
In the quarterfinals, 2nd-seeded TRC Academy clubbed the 7th-seeded Thornlea SS Prep 80-66. Thornlea (coached by Jay McNeilly, assisted by Shane James, Jordan McFarlane and Chris Skinner) included Cashius McNeilly, Sean Miller-Moore, Dorrel Etionsa Atkinson, Jonathan Kitenge, Jordan Brathwaite, Scott Hitchon, Dean Andrade, Grant Audu, Jordan Henry, Ben Li, Sammy Wong, Daimar Dyall-Richards, Jordan Carty, Treyvon Blake, Abilash Surendran and Keenan Tate.
The 5th-seeded Hamilton Lincoln Prep edged the 4th-seeded Markham Bill Crothers SS Prep Colts 83-79. The Colts (coached by Charles Hantoumakos, assisted by Faiz Ahmed, Kelly Kasper and Charles Scott) included Stefan Smith, Emanuel Miller, Jayden Coke, Cole Lawrence, Jamal Mayali, Andreas Skenderija, Paris Shand, Juwan Beckford, Jacob Fraser, Kordell Charles, A.J. Golbourne, Khalid Long Kenny Ngassoue, Justice Prentice and Michael Utsalo.
The 3rd-seeded Mono Athlete Institute Prep smacked the 6th-seeded St. Catherines Ridley College 96-71. Ridley, in its first year in the league (coached by Tarry Upshaw, assisted by David Whitty and Mick Bett) included Alek Simeunovic, Thomas Crosbie, Marcus Upshaw, Jaden Bediako, Cameron Bett, Akim Olak, Noah Wharton, Tomas Caprera, Anthony Daudu, Malcolm Bailey, Kiano Heath and Tomi Johnson.
In the last quarterfinal, top-seeded Mono Orangeville Prep dispatched the 9th-seeded Father Henry Carr Crusaders 113-100. The Crusaders (coached by Paul Melnik, assisted by Leon Archer, Travis Noel and Mark Poyser) included Denier Campbell, Shae Linton-Brown, Mychael Paulo, Brendan Sackey, Clythus Griffith, Anthony McNish Jr, Chaquan Clarke, John Akende, Marlon Beckford, Jalen Menzies, Tadre Morse, Michael Green, Carlo Dubria, Deshaunte Stevens, Rikesh Ricketts, Tadre Morse and Gareth Baugh.
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Brantford TRC Academy defeated the 3rd-seeded Mono Athlete Institute Prep Bears 97-88. The Bears (coached by Chris Cobbina, assisted by Kenan Jorsling and Joshua Millican) included Oshae Brissett, Howard Washington Jr., Jahvon Blair, Jordan Lyons, Addison Patterson, Tyler Plummer, Aron Mata, Ben Hendriks, Jevonnie Scott, J.J. Sedore, Mason Foreman, John Dhuol and MaBeny Naam.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Mono Orangeville Prep dispatched the 5th-seeded Hamilton Lincoln Prep 125-86. The Huskies (coach Kenold Knight, assistant Stefan Petsanidis) included Kevin Kangu, Sam Jenkins, Adnan Begovic, Cullen Welsford, Tafari Simms, Josh Noton, Tyson Cato, Lincoln Rosebush, Sam Jenkins, Zach Datars, Ihsan Khan and Mackenzie Hart.
In the final, the top-seeded Mono Orangeville Prep edged the 2nd-seeded Brantford TRC Academy 99-97. Orangeville broke to a 12-4 lead but TRC Academy responded with a 10-2 run to knot the score. Ignas Brazdeikis nailed a late trey to give Orangeville a 24-19 lead after one quarter. They soon led 30-19 but Avan Nava began draining corner treys to give TRC Academy a 33-32 lead. Steven Levniac hit several buckets as TRC took a 46-45 lead at the half. Orangeville regained the lead with 5 treys coming out of the break and soon led 60-46 but Avan Nava and Eliel Nsoseme drew TRC to within 73-67 after three quarters. Nava and Adong Makuoi drew TRC to within 97-92 with 2 minutes to play. A clutch Nava 3-pointer from deep, followed by a Deon Ejim bucket in the paint tied the game up at 97 with 30 seconds remaining. Ignas Brazdeikis drove the lane and missed a layup but Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe notched a weak side putback with 18.3 seconds remaining to give Orangeville Prep a 2-point lead and TRC was unable to convert its final shot. Finals MVP Ignas Brazdeikis notched 27 points and 10 boards for Orangeville. Keshaun Saunders added 25. Bears coach Nathan Johnson told the Orangeville Banner that “I’m super proud of everything the team did this year. They really bought in from day one and ran with a culture that we all helped to create, and in the end, it paid off. … The whole game, I felt confident. We had been executing all night, and the last minute of play was going to be no different. We were a team of resiliency all year — I never bet against my kids.” Brazdeikis said “I’m just so excited that we won this game. It was just a great season from the beginning. I try and be a leader; that was the biggest thing, I think, I changed from last year …. I just feel great being able to lead this team to a victory.” Johnson said he was “incredibly proud” of Brazdeikis. “From day one, he was bought in to this team. He’s been a leader not only on the court, but off the court, too. The sky is the limit for that kid; his talent and work ethic are incredible.”
The runner-up Brantford TRC Academy: Eliel Nsoseme; Adong Makuoi; Antoine Vernon; Deon Ejim; Steve Levnaic; Matt Grace; Avan Nava; Adam Francolini; Dakoda Lewis; Julian Walker; Brandon John; coach Tyrell Vernon; assistant Correece Downey; assistant Jeremy Kayeye
The champion Mono Orangeville Prep: Ignas Brazdeikis; Shemar Rathan-Mayes; Keshaun Saunders; Junior Farquhar; James Karnik; Aaryn Rai; Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe; Miguel Tomley; Brett Sloan; Julian Lepp; Thomas Chilton; coach Nathan Johnson; coach Younis Hussein; assistant David Peddigrew