It was JF Ross' happiest loss of the season.
Though the Royals dropped a 59-55 decision to the Kitchener St. Mary's Eagles in the 2:00pm game, they completed their two pool games with a 1-1 record but (most importantly) a positive +/- by the slimmest of margins: +1.
This meant that the Royals would be assured of a semifinal berth, while one of the teams in the 6pm game (FHCI or SMHS) would be eliminated.
Staying with this one though, SMHS inserted normal "sixth man" Telloy Simon into the starting lineup and the coaching decision paid dividends early. He put home 5 early points while using his length on defense to try and slow down JFR's star point guard, Shamlo Saeed.
Both teams went deep into their benches in the first half, where 20 players saw action.
Reserve guard Chris Walser made the most of his minutes for St. Mary's, knocking in a jumper that pushed the Eagles to a 23-17 lead and 4:30 left in the first half. The Eagles would lead 28-19 at the break.
St. Mary's was up 8 in the third before back-to-back threes by Mike Friesen of Ross cut things to a 31-29 deficit. A couple of Henry Bankazo steals for lay-ups, though, keyed a 6-0 SMHS run the other way and extended things back to 37-29.
The Eagles would extend back to double-digits (43-33) before Ross made a 5-0 mini-run thanks to another three (one of four in the game) by Friesen; this would close the third quarter with St. Mary's in front 43-38.
St. Mary's led by as many as seven in the final quarter, but Friesen kept Ross right in this one. He hit a three with 6:00 to go (to cut the lead from 7 to 4) and then a minute later had a great rebound and put-back to bring things down to 2, at 48-46.
Ross had their chances to even win the game down the stretch.
Following a St. Mary's turnover and under a minute to go with the score 54-52, Evan Karl missed a good look at a three. JF Ross was then forced to foul, where Isaac Lance made 2 FTs for St. Mary's (56-52).
Thankfully for JFR, Shamlo Saeed hit a transition three-pointer to cut things back to 56-55 and only a few seconds on the clock. This was big because, again, the Royals were certain to advance even with a loss of 4 points or less.
Lance would tack on three more free-throws in the final seconds for the Eagles as they held on for the 56-52 final.
Adam Voll led the St. Mary's scoring with 17, while Henry Bankazo (16) and Alex Thompson (14) were also in double-digits. Telloy Simon (5), Isaac Lance (4), Chris Walser (2) and Tyler Hergott (1) rounded out the Eagle offense.
Friesen had a 20-point effort to lead Ross (and all scorers). Also connecting for JFR were Shamlo Saeed (12), Jack Cornett (9), Evan Karl (4), Wil de Groot (4), Trey Larue (4), and Owen Moynihan
Boxscore
SMHS 19-09-15-14 = 59
JFR 08-11-19-17 = 55
JF Ross
E. Karl 2-9 FG, 0-1 FT, 6 Reb, 1 Ast - 4 Pts.
M. Friesen 7-12 FG, 2-2 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 20 Pts.
W. de Groot 2-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
J. Cornett 4-11 FG, 1-2 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 9 Pts.
S. Saeed 2-9 FG, 7-8 FT, 7 Reb, 4 Ast - 12 Pts.
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Moynihan 1-5 FG, 0-1 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
T. Larue 2-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
D. Padovan 0-0 FG, 0-1 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
G. Kliska 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
N. Maule 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 20-52 (.385). Free-Throws: 10-15 (.667). Three-Point Goals: 5-18, .278 (M. Friesen 4-5, S. Saeed 1-3, W. de Groot 0-1, E. Karl 0-2, O. Moynihan 0-3).
St. Mary's
I. Lance 0-8 FG, 4-6 FT, 7 Reb, 2 Ast - 4 Pts.
H. Bankazo 4-6 FG, 8-10 FT, 4 Reb, 3 Ast - 16 Pts.
A. Thompson 4-8 FG, 6-12 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 14 Pts.
A. Voll 6-11 FG, 5-6 FT, 6 Reb, 0 Ast - 17 Pts.
T. Simon 2-3 FG, 0-1 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 5 Pts.
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D. Hibbert 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
T. Hergott 0-1 FG, 1-2 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 1 Pt.
Z. Hannah 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
C. Walser 1-1 FG, 0-1 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
C. Cloutier 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
A. Sutton 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
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