Article By: Darryl Smart
Adrian Mendoza and his St. John's College Green Eagles teammates want to win the Brant County high school junior boys basketball title for Jamie Buchanan.
And thanks to a 54-46 win over the North Park Collegiate Trojans Tuesday night at Brantford Collegiate Institute, they're one win away from doing it.
Mendoza, along with several other Green Eagles players are wearing purple ribbons on their shoes in memory of their friend who recently passed away.
"He was a real people person," said Mendoza, who led the Green Eagles with 17 points. "He always made everyone smile. We want to win this for him."
The Green Eagles led almost from the beginning to end thanks to some sharp shooting from the Grade 9 point guard, as well as Zach Dawson, who poured in 15 points.
"This was a real team effort," Mendoza said. "Everyone played a great game, especially Zach Dawson. He really stepped up on defence and made some real key shots."
Mendoza said the key to Tuesday's win was defence, something they talked about before the game.
"We knew coming in we had to play tough defensively," Mendoza, who was 10-for-13 from the free throw line said. "The coaches told us this was our game. This is our chance to prove ourselves after they beat us (in the regular season).
With both teams earning a win against each other in the regular season, it was expected every game in the final would go down to the wire.
Tuesday they didn't disappoint.
"We're really happy with our kid's effort tonight," Trojans coach Gord Petersen said. "But we missed way too many easy shots and they didn't. That was the difference."
Petersen said going into Game 2, which is set for Thursday at 7 p.m., at BCI, they will make a few adjustments, but the focus will be the same.
Matt Minutillo led the Trojans with 18 points, while Jagtaj Matharoo and Andrew Silla scored 12 each.
We just have to make our shots," Petersen said.
Mendoza said despite being one win away from the city title, they aren't thinking about it.
"We just want to take it one game at a time," Mendoza said. "The focus will be the same as it always is. We have to keep executing defensively and push the ball on them when we can."
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