WCSSAA Senior Semifinal #1: SJAM 53, CHCI 48

The SJAM Highlanders were able to withstand an emotional Cameron Heights Golden Gaels squad and earn a 53-48 victory on the Gaels' home floor this evening.

Jake Robinet poured in 19 points and had 12 rebounds ---- including a huge dunk with :35 left in the game that essentially sealed the victory.

The game was close throughout. SJAM had taken a 24-18 lead in the second quarter, but Cameron's all-star guard Stefan Arezina hit back-to-back triples to tie the game at 24 heading into halftime.

SJAM held a slim 38-35 lead after three, and extended to a 7 point lead (44-37) with under 4:00 to play.

However, the Gaels' Adnan Shah then hit and "and one" and a three-pointer in succession to get Cameron right back in the thick of things at 44-43. On the ensuing possession, SJAM's Edem Ame was fouled and knocked down both FTs (he was 6-6 in the game), and the Highlanders took a three-point lead. They would then hold on down the stretch to win.

Robinet had a huge block with 1:15 to play and, with the Highlanders up 2, threw down the aforementioned huge dunk to ice things.

Alongside Robinet's 19, Ben Reyhani added a "quiet" 14 points on just 9 field goal attempts. For CHCI, Arezina had 18 points and Nebojsa Djeric had 10.

The big difference in this one? Free throws. The more aggressive Highlanders got to the line 17 times, compared to just 4 FT attempts for Cameron.......and the Highlanders converted 14 of those 17 tries.

CHCI 11-13-11-13 = 48
SJAM 12-12-14-15= 53

CHCI (48)
B. Murphy 1-3, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
S. Arezina 7-20, 0-0 FT, 6 Reb, 1 Ast - 18 Pts.
A. Osman 3-9, 0-1 FT, 2 Reb, 4 Ast - 6 Pts.
N. Djeric 4-8, 0-0 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 10 Pts.
S. Cucak 0-4, 1-2 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 1 Pt.
A. Shah 3-6, 1-1 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 9 Pts.
Waterman 1-1, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.

Field Goals: .373, Free Throws: .500. Three-Point Goals: 8-29, .276 (Djeric 2-5, Shah 2-5, Arezina 4-13, Osman 0-3, Cucak 0-3).

SJAM (53)
E. Ame 2-8, 6-6 FT, 8 Reb, 1 Ast - 10 Pts.
J. James 0-3, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 5 Ast - 0 Pts.
B. Reyhani 5-9, 2-2 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 14 Pts.
K. Botchway 3-9, 1-4 FT, 1 Reb, 1 Ast - 10 Pts.
J. Robinet 7-13, 5-5 FT, 12 Reb, 0 Ast - 19 Pts.
M. Hamm 0-0, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
B. Reiter 0-1, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals: .395. Free Throws: .824. Three-Point Goals: 5-12, .417 (Botchway 3-7, Reyhani 2-5).