The Holy Trinity junior boys basketball team are peaking at the right moment.
Not long ago the Titans were playing like a last-place team and had the record to prove it.
However, after barely sneaking into the final four, Holy Trinity stunned the second-place Waterford Wolves Tuesday with 41-34 semifinal win. The victory advances Holy Trinity to Thursday's final against the first-place Simcoe Sabres, who defeated the Valley Heights juniors 55-44 in the other match.
"If you saw this team play four weeks ago, and you saw them play today, you'd see that their growth has been fantastic," said Holy Trinity coach Christian Miller. "It seems the last two weeks they've developed a lot of focus and poise."
The junior Wolves dominated Holy Trinity this winter, defeating them in both their matches.
However, it was the Titans turn to dominate yesterday. Difficult as it may be to believe, the Titans nearly let it slip away despite leading by a score of 33-15 after three quarters.
That's right: With only eight minutes left to play Holy Trinity nearly experienced a Titanic collapse.
With nothing to lose the Wolves went for broke. Their deep coverage and full-court press flustered the Titans. For a full seven minutes spectators were treated to one fast break after another until
Waterford had pulled within four. However, with a minute remaining, Holy Trinity settled down and sank several clutch free throws to clinch the win.
"We just weren't playing our game," said Waterford's Mackenzie Sheridan. "We weren't looking down low and spent too much time shooting for (three pointers). At the end of the third the coach told us not to worry about it; just go out and play our game. Go out and have fun. And we nearly pulled it off."
Even if it wasn't the victory he was looking for, Wolves coach Dan Avey was glad to see his boys go out on a high note.
"They just didn't play the game they know and love," he said. "But they finally showed what they can do. I'm proud of them."
Titans guard Mark Gubbels says a recent tournament at Cameron Heights in Kitchener was the big turning point in the Titans' season. The field was competitive, Gubbels said, something that caused the juniors to step up their game.
"We were bottom of the pack at the first of the year," added teammate Jordan Hill. "Now we're really turning it on. We're trying to transform all that hard work we've done in practice into a winning season."
Braden Ongena led the Titans with 12 points. Guard Corey MacLean had a strong game for WDHS, leading the Wolves with 15 in total.
In the other semifinal, the 6-2 Sabres were given a workout by the 3-5 Valley Heights Bears. It was a high-scoring, intense game that proved these Bears certainly deserved a playoff slot.
Simcoe's Jordan Peever finished with 16 points to lead all scorers, followed by teammates Tyler Poss with 13 and Brandon Gee with 10. Terry Wall had nine for the Bears.
The junior final will go Thursday at 6 p.m. at Simcoe Composite School.
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