First win for the school ever at the Heinbuch? Check.
The Centre Dufferin (Shelburne) Royals made another emphatic statement on Thursday evening at Huron Heights in Kitchener, holding off the preseason CWOSSA #1 ranked WCI Vikings in a 59-58 thriller to cap a great day of basketball during the first day of the Heinbuch.
In fact, no game was decided by more than 6 points, while three were decided by three points or less.
In the nightcap, the Vikings jumped to an early 8-0 lead and led 19-11 after the opening frame. However, when 6'6" forward Dani Elgadi went to the bench with foul trouble in the second quarter, the Royals went on a 16-4 run to close the second quarter, keyed by the outstanding play of 6'3" SF Marco Zanette.
Zanette poured in 17 first-half points while Doug Costanzo added 11 points and 8 rebounds as the Royals took a 35-30 lead at intermission.
It looked like WCI would take control in the third, as they started on a 7-0 run. However, CDDHS absorbed that punch and went on a 10-0 run of their own to extend the lead back up to 8.
The Royals would maintain that 5-8 point lead for much of the third quarter and early fourth. In fact, a Matt Pflance three-pointer from the left corner would give Centre Dufferin a 55-47 lead with under 4:00 to go.
Doug Costanzo would extend things to 59-49 on a nice lay-in inside, but that's where things started to get interesting.
After a WCI free-throw and a Jacob Ranton "and one" (59-53) with 1:36 left, CDDHS missed the front end of a 1-and-1 which WCI rebounded. On the offensive side, Dani Elgadi hit a three to cut things to 59-56 (1:13).
Another missed free throw for the Royals allowed Nick Johnny to have a great look to tie the game, but he would come up empty. Shortly thereafter, Jacob Ranton was fouled during a mad scramble for the ball but missed both free throws before coming up with a big bucket inside and just 12 seconds to go.
The Royals turned the ball over on the inbounds play, trying for a "homerun pass", giving the Vikes a chance to complete the comeback. However, a Jacob Ranton runner and an Adam Anagnostopoulos jumper both just rimmed out to set off a celebration for the Royals.
Marco Zanette finished with 21 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists for the Royals, while Doug Costanzo added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Daniel Craig (9 points, 4 rebounds), Matt Pflance (9 points), and Carlo Zanette (5) rounded out the Royal scoring.
Jacob Ranton had a great effort for WCI, pouring in 23 points and 7 rebounds. Elgadi added 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Adam Anagnostopoulos had 9 points and 7 'boards. Other Vikes on the scoresheet included Nick Johnny (5), Zach Totzke (2) and Malcolm Piazza (2).
The Royals will play Hamilton Westmount today, winners (74-71) over Oakville Loyola. The Vikes will take on Loyola on the other side of the bracket.
Meanwhile, Jack Simmons poured in 30 points and TJ Lall netted 27 but it wasn't enough as Mother Teresa (Scarborough) beat Galt 71-65 in the early game on Thursday.
Vedran Dmitrovic had 22 to pace Cameron to a close 42-39 squeaker over Brantford North Park, who received 13 from Nick Minutillo.
Cameron and Mother Teresa will play today (4:30pm, St. Mary's), while Galt and NPC will battle in an all-CWOSSA "AAA" game at 3:00pm (St. Mary's).
I'll have more from the WCI - CDDHS game, including a full boxscore.
Programming Note
Busy day - so I won't get up the D10 scores or rankings today --- although with tournament play they're likely best saved until after the weekend.
As always, head over to my Twitter Page for updates from where I'm at during the day --- I plan on taking in both Heinbuch and Highlander Hoopla (Junior) games today!
