Using the strength of a 12-0 third quarter run, the St. Mary's Eagles were able to get revenge for their first CWOSSA loss of the season this past weekend as they "flipped the script" on the St. Benedict Saints by a 57-40 final last night at home in Kitchener.On Saturday, St. Benedict took the title at the SJAM "CWOSSA Hoopla" tournament by besting the Eagles in a 61-46 game.
The first half went down as expected -- a tight, physical contest, which ended with the Eagles clinging to a one-point lead (23-22). The Eagles were able to get out in transition for a couple of easy buckets, including a nice dunk by grade ten forward Barnaba Neil.
St. Benedict's Carter Johnson knocked home a buzzer-beating jumper as time expired in the first half to give the Saints some momentum heading into the halftime recess.
However, St. Mary's quickly exploited their interior advantage to start the second half, with Barnaba Neil and grade nine forward Jason Jaros going inside for layups. The Eagles actually started the second half on a 7-0 run to take a 30-22 lead.
SBCSS' star guard, Zubair Seyed, then did his part to keep the Saints in this one, by scoring 5 consecutive points on a nice drive and then a three-point pull-up.
St. Mary's came right back, though, with their 12-0 run that was started by a Minas Abara "and one" three-pointer and capped by a banked three-ball from Kanayo Nnadi, who had 7 points off the bench during that spurt.
Trailing 44-32 heading into the fourth, the Saints were really unable to cut into the Eagles' lead, which they were able to extend down the stretch for the 57-40 final.
The big difference in this one compared to Saturday? St. Mary's was really able to use their athleticism and size to their advantage on Wednesday. In fact, the Eagles did a tremendous job of limiting second chance opportunities and held a --- get this --- 42-17 advantage in rebounding.
Jason Jaros, the lone grade nine starter for St. Mary's, had 16 rebounds himself, nearly matching the rebounding output of the Saints.
The other key factor in this one was three-point shooting. In the friendly confines of the St. Mary's gym, the Eagles shot over 50% (7-for-13) compared to just 17% (3-for-17) for St. Benedict.
For St. Mary's, Neil led the way with a 13-point and 5 rebound effort, while Minas Abara had 9 points alongside 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Adham Eleeda also provided a solid stat line (9 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists), while Kanayo Nnadi (7), Daniel Douse (7), David Nguyen (6), and Jason Jaros (6 + 16 rebounds) rounded out the scoresheet.
Only four St. Benedict players hit the scoresheet, led by Zubair Seyed who had 21 of the Saints' 40 points on the evening. Alex Douglas (9), Lucas Cardoso (6), and Carter Johnson (4) were the other SBCSS scorers.
The win improves St. Mary's to 5-0, while the loss dropped the Saints to 2-2 in D8 play.
Boxscore
SMHS 12-11-21-13 = 57
SBCSS 11-11-10-08 = 40
St. Mary's
D. Nguyen 2-5 FG, 0-2 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 6 Pts.
A. Eleeda 3-10 FG, 1-2 FT, 8 Reb, 4 Ast - 9 Pts.
M. Abara 4-8 FG, 0-1 FT, 5 Reb, 5 Ast - 9 Pts.
B. Neil 6-9 FG, 1-2 FT, 5 Reb, 3 Ast - 13 Pts.
J. Jaros 3-11 FG, 0-0 FT, 16 Reb, 2 Ast - 6 Pts.
----------
G. Lam 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
K. Nnadi 3-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 7 Pts.
De. Douse 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.
Da. Douse 3-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 7 Pts.
Y. Yosief 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 24-53 (.453). Free-Throws: 2-7 (.286). Three-Point Goals: 7-13, .538 (A. Eleeda 2-3, D. Nguyen 2-4, M. Abara 1-1, K. Nnad 1-1, Da. Douse 1-3, G. Lam 0-1).
St. Benedict
Z. Seyed 7-14 FG, 5-8 FT, 0 Reb, 3 Ast - 21 Pts.
L. Cardoso 3-10 FG, 0-1 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Ast - 6 Pts.
J. Malnerich 0-10 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.
A. Douglas 4-7 FG, 0-0 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 9 Pts.
C. Johnson 2-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 6 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
-------------
M. Hajjo 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
S. Arora 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
M. Penazola 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 16-46 (.348). Free-Throws: 5-9 (.555). Three-Point Goals: 3-17, .176 (Z. Seyed 2-6, A. Douglas 1-3, L. Cardoso 0-2, J. Malnerich 0-6).
