If you would have guessed the winner of Friday's D8 Senior Boys' championship game strictly upon body language at the final buzzer, it probably wouldn't have been immediately clear who had won.The heavily-favoured St. Mary's Eagles, who had won both league games against Resurrection by 30+ points and were "expected to win", had to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat after leading by just one point --- 46-45 --- with 5:00 to go.
Thankfully for the Eagles, Tyrick Thompson and Jamari Stevenson hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions to restore a 7-point lead about two minutes later.
St. Mary's hadn't been involved in many close league games this year (won all 12 league and playoff contests by double-digits), and that lack of experience certainly showed in some questionable decisions (from a game management perspective) by the Eagles down the stretch.
Up 7 with 1:47 to play, St. Mary's took a contested three-point attempt, instead of trying to milk some more time off of the clock. A Resurrection defensive rebound and two pointer at the other end by Jacob Gilbert cut the lead to 5.
Resurrection actually got it back within 4 points (54-50) and under :30 to play before the Eagles made the final three points from the free-throw line in the waning seconds.
Needless to say, this game certainly didn't go according to script, but the Eagles repeated as D8 champions for the first time in school history and now will attempt to qualify for OFSAA "AAAA" for the second straight year next weekend in Guelph.
Telloy Simon led the way for St. Mary's with a 20-point, 5 rebound performance. Nathan Riley (12 points and 14 rebounds) and Tyrick Thompson (12 points, 6 rebounds) were next on the SMHS scoresheet. Other Eagles to score included Jamari Stevenson (5), Jermaine Lyle (4), Tyler Hergott (2), and Avery Sutton (2).
Patric McGlynn had an impressive game for Rez; the 6'4" fourth year guard finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds, as well as 5 blocks. Jacob Gilbert added 16 for Rez, while Kirolos Milio (6 points + 7 rebounds), Tyler Bartley (6), Mark Wylie (3) and Onique Findlay (2) rounded out the Rez scoring.
The Phoenix still have a chance to advance to "AAAA" CWOSSA by way of a play-in game; they will take on D10 #2, JF Ross, in Guelph on Wednesday at 4pm.
Boxscore
RCSS 11-11-13-15 = 50
SMHS 08-18-12-19 = 57
Resurrection (50)
T. Hunter 0-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.
P. McGlynn 6-15 FG, 5-11 FT, 15 Reb, 2 Ast - 17 Pts.
J. Gilbert 6-20 FG, 3-4 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 16 Pts.
T. Bartley 2-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 6 Pts.
K. Milio 2-4 FG, 2-2 FT, 10 Reb, 2 Ast - 6 Pts.
-----------
M. Wylie 1-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Ast - 3 Pts.
O. Findlay 1-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
A. Pickett 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Z. Holness 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 18-60 (.300). Free-Throws: 10-17 (.588). Three-Point Goals: 4-11, .363 (T. Bartley 2-2, M. Wylie 1-1, J. Gilbert 1-2, T. Hunter 0-2, P. McGlynn 0-4).
St. Mary's (57)
N. Riley 4-17 FG, 4-9 FT, 14 Reb, 1 Ast - 12 Pts.
J. Lyle 1-10 FG, 2-2 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 4 Pts.
T. Thompson 4-15 FG, 3-8 FT, 6 Reb, 1 Ast - 12 Pts.
T. Hergott 1-6 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Ast - 2 Pts.
T. Simon 6-12 FG, 6-8 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 20 Pts.
----------
J. Stevenson 2-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Ast - 5 Pts.
A. Sutton 1-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 2 Ast - 2 Pts.
E. Duong 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 19-69 (.275). Free-Throws: 15-27 (.556). Three-Point Goals: 4-19, .211 (T. Simon 2-7, T. Thompson 1-3, J. Stevenson 1-4, T. Hergott 0-1, J. Lyle 0-4).
