The St. Mary's Eagles used a strong third quarter surge to take charge of the D8 Junior title game on Friday evening at St. Mary's; they would hold on down the stretch (although St. Benedict certainly had their chances) in a 60-57 win.The game was certainly intense, as it featured my top two ranked CWOSSA junior teams, and was made even more so by the fact that the winner would advance to "AAAA" CWOSSA while the loser would be done for the season.
Early on, both teams traded blows with the Eagles assuming a slim one-point lead (11-10) after the first --- this despite the fact that they didn't register an official two-point field goal attempt in the quarter (Gordon Lam was fouled on the one attempt). The Eagles took twelve three-pointers, making 3 of them.
St. Benedict started to get things rolling offensively in the second quarter, and took a 26-22 lead into the halftime after Justin Malnerich knocked home a three-pointer with time winding down.
Many in attendance thought this might give the Saints some momentum heading into the second half, but it was the Eagles who made the appropriate adjustments and came out on fire. In fact, St. Mary's started the quarter on an 8-0 run to give themselves a lead that they would only barely relinquish once the rest of the way.
One of my "X Factors", Daniel Douse, came off of the bench in the third quarter for Adham Eleeda (who got into foul trouble), and provided a big spark, making two three pointers during the course of the quarter, one which capped a 13-2 St. Mary's run and gave the Eagles a 51-41 lead heading to the fourth.
That meant that the Eagles scored 29 --- yes, 29 --- points in the third quarter.
The Saints had their chances in the fourth, but a couple of missed layups and some uncharacteristic empty trips to the free-throw line proved to be too much for them to overcome.
A Jason Jaros two-pointer put the Eagles up 8 with a minute to go, although St. Benedict was able to gradually chip into that deficit. A Malnerich three-pointer at the buzzer accounted for the final margin (60-57).
Adham Eleeda led the Eagles with 19 points, while David Nguyen had 12 (all from outside the arc). Daniel Douse (7), Minas Abara (6), Gordon Lam (6), Barnaba Neil (6) and Jason Jaros (4) also scored for St. Mary's.
Abara, the Eagle PG, was injured during the third quarter and did not return. He had a fine effort on Friday evening, finishing with 7 assists and 5 rebounds in addition to his 6 points.
For St. Benedict, Alex Douglas had a game-high 21 points, while Zubair Seyed (14) and Justin Malernich (13) were also in double-figures. Carter Johnson (4), Lucas Cardoso (3) and Sameer Arora (2) also hit the scoresheet for the Saints.
As mentioned, St. Mary's will advance to the "AAAA" CWOSSA junior championships this coming weekend in Brantford.
Boxscore
SBCSS 10-16-15-16 = 57
SMHS 11-11-29-09 = 60
St. Benedict
Z. Seyed 4-12 FG, 5-7 FT, 3 Reb, 5 Ast - 14 Pts.
L. Cardoso 1-4 FG, 1-3 FT, 1 Reb, 3 Ast - 3 Pts.
J. Malnerich 4-7 FG, 1-2 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 13 Pts.
A. Douglas 8-14 FG, 4-8 FT, 10 Reb, 1 Ast - 21 Pts.
C. Johnson 2-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
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M. Penazola 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
S. Arora 0-0 FG, 2-2 FT, 1 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.
M. Hajjo 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 19-42 (.452). Free-Throws: 13-22 (.590). Three-Point Goals: 6-10, .600 (J. Malnerich 4-6, A. Douglas 1-1, Z. Seyed 1-3).
St. Mary's
D. Nguyen 4-9 FG, 0-1 FT, 1 Reb, 2 Ast - 12 Pts.
A. Eleeda 7-17 FG, 1-2 FT, 6 Reb, 2 Ast - 19 Pts.
M. Abara 2-9 FG, 0-2 FT, 5 Reb, 7 Ast - 6 Pts.
G. Lam 2-3 FG, 2-2 FT, 6 Reb, 1 Ast - 6 Pts.
J. Jaros 2-2 FG, 0-1 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
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B. Neil 3-7 FG, 0-0 FT, 7 Reb, 2 Ast - 6 Pts.
Da. Douse 2-3 FG, 1-2 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 7 Pts.
Y. Yosief 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
K. Nnadi 0-0 FG, 0-2 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 22-50 (.440). Free-Throws: 4-12 (.333). Three-Point Goals: 12-31, .387 (A. Eleeda 4-8, D. Nguyen 4-9, Da. Douse 2-3, M. Abara 2-9, G. Lam 0-1, B. Neil 0-1).
