WCSSAA Semifinal: Top-Ranked Trojans Pull Away From Hawks

As expected, the Forest Heights Trojans are advancing to the WCSSAA championship final on Wednesday evening.

The top-seeded Trojans opened up a double-digit lead on the #5 Jacob Hespeler Hawks and didn't look back as they ran to a 66-47 victory at Preston in the nightcap of semifinal Saturday.

The Hawks kept things tight early, thanks to the solid play of Jason Quiring, who registered a 13-point, 10 rebound first half.  They trailed 18-15 after one and were within "striking distance" down 11 (37-26) at half.

However, an Adrian Russell (FHCI) steal and lay-up to start the second half set the tone for what would be a subdued evening for the Hespeler supporters in attendance.  The Trojans would not relinquish their grasp on the double-digit edge as they advanced through to the finals.

We usually think of Javon Masters and Juwan Miller when we think of Forest Heights, but Dylan George has expanded his game nicely and finished with 16 points on a very efficient 8-of-10 from the floor and added in 10 rebounds.

Miller (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Masters (19 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) did their usual damage for FHCI.  Other Trojan scorers included Adrian Russell (6), Nienkel Paljola (3), and Josh Falkenstern (2).

For Jacob Hespeler, Quiring topped their efforts with a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds.  Other Hawks on the scoresheet were grade 10 up-and-coming star Saajan Arora (11), Sanam Arora (5), James Roberts (4), Brendan Vandyken (2) and Simon Beeksma (2).

Both teams had already qualified for their respective CWOSSA championship next weekend (FHCI - AAAA, JHSS - AAA).

Boxscore

JHSS    15-11-09-12 = 47
FHCI    18-19-16-13 = 66

Jacob Hespeler
Sn Arora      1-3 FG, 1-2 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Ast - 4 Pts.
Sj Arora      4-11 FG, 1-2 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 11 Pts.
J. Quiring     7-14 FG, 8-9 FT, 11 Reb, 0 Ast - 24 Pts.
Vandyken    1-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.
L. Marsden  0-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.
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J. Roberts    2-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 3 Ast - 4 Pts.
S. Beeksma 1-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
J. Ravn        0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
N. Vokey    0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
C. Barvinek 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals:  16-41 (.390).  Free-Throws:  10-13 (.769).  Three-Point Goals:  5-13, .385 (J. Quiring 2-3, Sj. Arora 2-4, Sn. Arora 1-2, B. Vandyken 0-1, L. Marsden 0-1, J. Roberts 0-2).

Forest Heights
Falkentsern   0-3 FG, 2-2 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
A. Russell     3-12 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 2 Ast - 6 Pts.
J. Masters    7-14 FG, 2-2 FT, 5 Reb, 4 Ast - 19 Pts.
J. Miller       7-16 FG, 5-5 FT, 10 Reb, 1 Ast - 20 Pts.
D. George    8-10 FG, 0-0 FT, 10 Reb, 0 Ast - 16 Pts.
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N. Paljola     1-7 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Ast - 3 Pts.
I. Anderson   0-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals:  26-65 (.400).  Free-Throws:  9-9 (1.000).  Three-Point Goals:  5-10, .500 (J. Masters 3-5, N. Paljola 1-2, J. Miller 1-2, J. Falkenstern 0-1).