It was two teams that were missing some key pieces that were able to survive the grueling St. Benedict Invitational schedule and advance to the final --- Resurrection (without Andrew Mwangi) and Forest Heights (without Ben Nikkel) were the 2 clubs that were left standing on Saturday night at SBCSS in the championship game.
The Phoenix defeated Kitchener Huron Heights (64-59), Cambridge Southwood (72-43), Sault Ste. Marie St. Basil (58-56 in OT) and Brantford North Park (55-37) to make it to the final.
Not to be outdone, Forest Heights' run included wins over Mississauga Loyola CSS (64-61), Dundas Parkside (51-44), North Bay West Ferris (47-40) and Waterloo Bluevale (36-30).
Surprisingly, after all that, both teams had enough left in the tank for an entertaining championship game.
It was the Phoenix who jumped out early, opening up a 12-4 lead thanks to a couple of deep threes from guard Tyler Schneider and some solid work inside by forward Mike Pereira. However, the Trojans would close the quarter on a 6-2 mini run to end the first quarter down 14-10.
The second frame was quite similar, with the Phoenix trying their best to push the pace against the depleted Trojans, who had just 8 players dressed for the final. Resurrection, who go (at least) 10 deep on a regular basis, took a 7 point lead and many in attendance assumed that they might be able to wear down the Trojans in the second half.
Not so fast.
Though they weren't able to cut much into the deficit, the Trojans were able to control the pace of the game through the 3rd and into the 4th quarters.
The fourth period started with FHCI intercepting the Rez inbounds pass and racing in (to get fouled on a lay-up attempt), cutting the deficit down to just 5.
The Trojans were able to lull the Phoenix into their "slow down" game and, in fact, it was 38-37 Resurrection when Javon Masters was fouled with about 5:30 to play. However, he missed the front end of a 1-and-1 that could have given the Trojans the lead.
Resurrection came back with some big plays by big man (6'7") Cory Kenning, who drilled a couple of 12-footers in succession to re-open the Rez advantage. They would lead 46-39 with 1:45 left, when the Trojans did all they could in one final push.
Masters drilled a three to cut things down to four, and another FHCI basket cut things down to two points with under :30 to play.
In possession of the ball, the Trojans turned it over on an out of bounds play and were forced to play the foul game. FHCI put Schneider on the line for a one-and-one with :21 to play, and despite the best efforts of Trojan supporters to make as much noise as possible, he drained both FTs to extend to a 4-point lead.
Rez sealed the deal with two more free throws from Pereira for the game's final margin (52-46).
Pereira led the Phoenix with 15 points, while Kenning finished with 12 and Schneider 10. Jeff Rodrigues and Stephen Cordle scored 4 each, Cam Gibbs netted 3 and John Moi and Tyler Bartley added 2 each.
All eight Trojans hit the scoresheet, led by Masters' game-high 16 points. Paul Anderson hit for double digits as well with 10 points, while Kieran McAndrew finished with 6 points, Gage Paquette had 5, Srdjan Stanivuk 3, and the three Trojan reserves --- Dylan George, Sean Roberts and Josh Falkenstern --- had 2 each.
For Rez, Schneider was named Tournament MVP, while Pereira was a first-team all-star. The Trojans also had two all-star selections --- Masters was a first-team all star, and McAndrew made the second team.
Boxscore
RCSS 14-13-09-16 = 52
FHCI 10-10-10-16 = 46
Resurrection
J. Rodrigues 2-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Ast - 4 Pts.
C. Gibbs 1-2 FG, 1-2 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 3 Pts.
M. Pereira 6-10 FG, 2-2 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 15 Pts.
T. Schneider 3-8 FG, 2-2 FT, 3 Reb, 2 Ast - 10 Pts.
C. Kenning 6-8 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Ast - 12 Pts.
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J. Moi 0-2 FG, 2-2 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.
J. Chris 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.
S. Cordle 2-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
J. Keil 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.
T. Bartley 1-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 2 Ast - 2 Pts.
Field Goals: 21-38 (.553). Free-Throws: 7-8 (.875). Three-Point Goals, 3-6 (.500): T. Schneider 2-3, M. Pereira 1-1, J. Keil 0-2.
Forest Heights
K. McAndrew 2-9 FG, 2-3 FT, 1 Reb, 1 Ast - 6 Pts.
S. Stanivuk 0-9 FG, 3-5 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.
J. Masters 6-13 FG, 3-5 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 16 Pts.
G. Paquette 2-5 FG, 1-2 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 5 Pts.
P. Anderson 3-5 FG, 3-5 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 10 Pts.
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D. George 1-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
J. Falkenstern 1-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.
S. Roberts 1-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
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