The Grand River Renegades picked a great time to get hot.
The Rens utilized a 33-5 run (yes, a 33-5 run) over the first and second quarters to build a 20-point halftime lead that they would not relinquish as they went on to top the Eastwood Rebels 59-46 in the WCSSAA junior championship at Preston HS in Cambridge on Wednesday evening.
Early on, it looked as though the Rebels were following their script from Saturday. After an early GRCI three by Joedey Wonch-Castiglione, the Rebs got some great work inside from Tre Nicholson to go on an 11-0 run and take an 11-3 lead --- just as they had done on Saturday.
However, the Rens never panicked and an 11-0 run of their own (as part of the 33-5 burst) gave them a 14-11 edge at the end of the first quarter.
Grand River continued to run with things in the second. A quick 10-3 run was followed by a three-pointer from reserve guard Miro Iliev, which pushed the GRCI lead to 13.
When Renegade Murtada Khamis hit a three-pointer in the waning seconds of the first-half, he pushed the lead to 20 (36-16) and became the 6th Grand River player to connect from three-point range in the opening 16 minutes.
To Eastwood's credit, they didn't fold in the second half. They continued to work hard in all facets on the game, particularly the boards where (yet again) the undersized Rebels finished with a rebounding advantage. However, GRCI's press caused numerous turnover issues for Eastwood throughout the game and, although ECI closed the gap late, the Renegades led by a comfortable margin during the entire second half.
Things aren't over yet for either team, though. Both the Renegades (WCSSAA #1) and Eastwood (WCSSAA #2) will participate in AAAA CWOSSA in Guelph tomorrow and (should they advance to the semifinals) Saturday.
Jamal Murray, Grand River's grade nine sensation, was on quadruple-double pace at halftime (though did not register a rebound and one assist in the second half) and topped GRCI's scoring with 16 points alongside 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
Adi Trtovac had 12 points in the first-half en route to 14 in the game, while other Rens on the scoresheet were Murtada Khamis (9), David Bajic (5), Patrik Odouk (4), Joedey Wonch-Castiglione (3), Petar Petkovic (3), Miro Iliev (3), and Kyle Clarke (2).
Eastwood's Ousmane Kromah finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds, while Izzy Nemeth had 9.
Tre Nicholson had 8 points and was a beast on the glass (14 rebounds); other Eastwood scorers included Sydney Stewart (7), Tyrelle Rafferty (4), Mo Kawl (2) and Ansu Jabateh (2).
Boxscore
ECI 11-05-14-16 = 46
GRCI 14-22-14-09 = 59
Eastwood
I. Nemeth 4-10 FG, 2-2 FT, 2 Reb, 3 Ast - 9 Pts.
O. Kromah 4-13 FG, 3-4 FT, 6 Reb, 2 Ast - 14 Pts.
T. Rafferty 2-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
S. Stewart 3-13 FG, 1-1 FT, 5 Reb, 2 Ast - 7 Pts.
T. Nicholson 4-7 FG, 0-2 FT, 14 Reb, 1 Ast - 8 Pts.
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M. Kawl 1-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
Farquharson 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
R. Ly 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
A. Jabateh 1-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast -2 Pts.
Field Goals: 19-49 (.388). Free-Throws: 6-9 (.666). Three-Point Goals: 4-18, .222 (O. Kromah 3-9, I. Nemeth 1-6, T. Nicholson 0-1, S. Stewart 0-2).
Grand River
M. Khamis 2-6 FG, 4-4 FT, 1 Reb, 4 Ast - 9 Pts.
A. Trtovac 2-6 FG, 9-9 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 14 Pts.
J. Murray 5-13 FG, 3-4 FT, 6 Reb, 6 Ast - 16 Pts.
Wnch-Cstgln 1-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.
P. Petkovic 1-5 FG, 1-2 FT, 6 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.
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D. Bajic 2-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 5 Pts.
P. Odouk 2-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
M. Iliev 1-5 FG, 0-1 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.
K. Clarke 1-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
C. Cruz 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
T. Simon 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
B. Pal 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
O. Wilmot 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
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