Mission accomplished.
The Forest Heights Trojans, who were the wire-to-wire leaders in the WCSSAA senior boys' league, captured the playoff championship on Wednesday evening at Preston with a 66-52 victory over the upstart SJAM Highlanders.
Things didn't start that well for the Trojans, however. FHCI's all-star guard, Javon Masters, limped off the court about 1:00 into the game after landing awkwardly following a three-point attempt.
With their leader on the bench getting his sprained ankle taped (and the FHCI supporters in attendance holding their breath), the Trojans actually went on a 10-2 surge keyed by the defensive pressure of Juwan Miller, who forced 3 steals including 2 in the SJAM backcourt that led to FHCI baskets.
Masters would return to the game towards the end of the first, and netted 5 quick points to give the Trojans a 15-7 lead before Sam Woods hit a three at the end of the quarter to cut the FHCI advantage to 15-10.
Forest Heights would extend things to 9 midway through the second (29-20) before SJAM clamped down on defense; a steal and pass up for a lay-in by Nathaniel Ellis cut things down to 29-24. However, the Trojans would restore an 8-point edge (35-27) by halftime.
The third quarter was all Forest Heights.
The Trojans started the quarter on a 6-0 run that was keyed by a missed Juwan Miller free-throw that he was able to rebound and find Javon Masters for a three-pointer, making the score 41-27. Things got up to 16 (49-33) after a steal and a Masters break-out dunk (despite his sprained ankle).
SJAM would try their best to maintain contact; Ben Reyhani hit a deep (by that I mean deeeeep) three from near the green line in the PHS gym as that shot cut things back to 49-38 and 1:00 to go in the frame.
Forest Heights, though, would rattle off the final 5 points of the quarter, with Juwan Miller banking home a three-point buzzer beater off of an out-of-bounds play that started with just 2 seconds left in the quarter.
That shot seemed to take a bit of the wind out of SJAM's sails, as they could not get within single digits in the fourth quarter. Reyhani would eventually foul out of the game with 3:15 to go, and the remaining time on the clock was essentially a formality. Both teams subbed out their starters for the last 1:17 of game clock, and by the time things hit "zeros" it registered as a 66-52 Trojan win.
Even with missing a chunk of the first quarter due to his ankle, Masters led all scorers with 23 points. Juwan Miller struggled from the floor (just 3-of-14) but made up for it at the line (10-of-14) to finish with 17 points.
Other Trojans on the scoresheet included Dylan George (10), Adrian Russell (8 while contributing some great defense as well), Nienkel Pal-Jola (4), Josh Falkenstern (2), and Ian Anderson (2).
For SJAM, Reyhani finished with a team-high 20 points before fouling out. Nathaniel Ellis finished with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while the other Highlanders to score were Connor Bradley (5), Sam Woods (5), Theshawn Barry (3), Rohan Quest (3) and Quinn Turner (2).
Both teams will advance to CWOSSA "AAAA" tomorrow; Forest Heights is in a difficult pool with St. Mary's and JF Ross. The Highlanders could actually be the favourites in a pool that includes Centre Wellington and St. John's.
Boxscore
SJAM 10-17-11-14 = 52
FHCI 15-20-19-12 = 66
SJAM
B. Reyhani 6-16 FG, 6-6 FT, 5 Reb, 2 Ast - 20 Pts.
C. Bradley 1-3 FG, 2-2 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 5 Pts.
T. Barry 1-4 FG, 1-3 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 3 Pts.
Q. Turner 1-1 FG, 0-2 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
N. Ellis 6-9 FG, 2-3 FT, 6 Reb, 2 Ast - 14 Pts.
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S. Woods 1-4 FG, 2-3 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 5 Pts.
Caraynnpls 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
N. Sarkanovic 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
J. Pallin 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
R. Quest 1-3 FG, 1-2 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.
N. Tutsell 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
S. Heer 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 17-44 (.386). Free-Throws: 14-21 (.667). Three-Point Goals: 4-19, .211 (B. Reyhani 2-9, C. Bradley 1-2, S. Woods 1-4, N. Ellis 0-1, T. Barry 0-1, N. Sarkanovic 0-1, S. Heer 0-1).
Forest Heights
J. Falkenstern 1-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 6 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.
A. Russell 3-7 FG, 2-2 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Ast - 8 Pts.
J. Masters 9-18 FG, 2-2 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 23 Pts.
J. Miller 3-14 FG, 10-14 FT, 5 Reb, 6 Ast - 17 Pts.
D. George 5-9 FG, 0-0 FT, 8 Reb, 1 Ast - 10 Pts.
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I. Anderson 1-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
N. Pal-Jola 2-2 FG, 0-2 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
M. Al-Hares 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
A. Dominico 0-0 FG, 0-2 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
T. Sad-Ahmed 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
O. Aidaruse 0-0 FG, 0-2 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
J. Kamara 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
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