Article By: Rob MasseyGUELPH – In their usual style, the Centennial Spartans fell behind, rallied and then took their OFSAA senior boys’ AAAA basketball qualifying tournament semifinal to overtime.
However, Tesloth Simon of Kitchener’s St. Mary’s Eagles sank a pair of free throws with four seconds to go in the first four-minute extra period to edge the Spartans 65-63.
“We knew we were good and strong as a team and that if we played together, we could beat anyone,” Centennial’s Jeremy Seed said. “We knew coming in we were the underdog. There was no pressure on us, we just had to hit shots and play together as a team and I think we did that.”
“They’ve got so much heart and they never give up and we’ve got a couple of kids that really can shoot it, so we’re always in the game,” Centennial coach Rob Conroy said. “The ball started to go and I couldn’t be happier for or more proud of a bunch of guys.”
A win would have given Centennial a berth in the OFSAA championship tournament at Windsor March 4-6.
The Spartans rallied in the fourth quarter to force the overtime with the teams tied 55-55. St. Mary’s had led 18-12 at the end of the first quarter, 33-25 at the half and 48-40 after the third quarter.
“No one in the gym expected us to win,” Seed said. “We knew we had a chance and we knew we could. We had a chance to win it at the end of regulation and in the overtime, but. . .”
“They held their heads up and fought right to the end and we had a chance to win it twice,” Conroy said.
Centennial’s comeback corresponded with Erik Sterne finding his shooting range as he hit 20 of his 25 points in the second half. Tarang Sharma nailed six three-pointers on his way to a 24-point outing.
Tyrick Thompson had 23 points for St. Mary’s while Simon had 18 and Jamari Stevenson 10.
Neither team shot particularly well on free throws as, according to the scoresheet, Centennial hit 12-of-23 and St. Mary’s hit 11-of-21.
“We missed some foul shots,” Conroy said. “Part of the deal is that they wanted us to play at a pace we’re not used to playing at so when you go to the line, you’re out of breath and you’re tired and it becomes more difficult.”
The game was similar to several the Spartans played during the D10 season when it became apparent that they could never be counted out of any game.
“We never roll over, we just keep on playing. We know we can crawl back,” Seed said. “We know we have good shooters who came make shots down the stretch. We just play defence, make shots and slowly chip away.”
The Spartans will be looking to rebuild next season as they expect to lose four of their starters – Sterne, Sharma, Seed and Harman Grewal.
In the other senior semifinal, Waterloo CI handed Kitchener Grand River a 59-52 setback.
St. Mary’s won the senior final 53-47 over Waterloo CI 47 Monday night.
Both St. Mary’s and Waterloo CI advance to the OFSAA AAAA tournament.
Waterloo’s Sir John A. Macdonald won the junior final 62-50 over St. John’s of Brantford.
In the semifinals, SJAM defeated Waterloo CI 59-40 and St. John’s downed Kitchener St. Mary’s 61-50.
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