Playing without one of their leaders (and key defenders), SG Jermaine Lyle, who was sidelined due to injury, the St. Mary's Eagles struggled early but came on in the second half to win their third consecutive D8 Senior Boys' title, 69-53 over the Resurrection Phoenix.Jamari Stephenson stepped up right away in Lyle's absence, knocking home 7 points off the bench in the opening frame for a 22-15 Eagle edge after one.
The veteran Phoenix -- who had three 5th year starters (Adam Schneider, Patric McGlynn & Jacob Gilbert) weren't flustered and chipped into the deficit in the second stanza. By halftime, it was down to a 32-28 edge for the heavily favoured Eagles.
St. Mary's restored a bit of a cushion in the third quarter, and extended their lead in the fourth. One of the key factors in this one was the fact that almost all of the loose ball bounces seemed to end up in St. Mary's possession, often resulting in additional chances (a couple of very key baskets were scored as such).
Nathan Riley threw down a couple of big dunks down the stretch to solidify the Eagle victory.
Four Eagles ended up in double figures --- Tesloth Simon (17), Jamari Stephenson (15), Tyrick Thompson (12) and Nathan Riley (10). Avery Sutton added 9 while Efosa Agbonze had 4 and Tyler Hergott had 2.
Jacob Gilbert had a game-high 20 points for Rez, with Korbil Gany (11) and Patric McGlynn (10) also finishing in double-figures. Adam Schneider (6), Zach Holness (4) and Thomas Hunter (2) rounded out the Phoenix scoring.
Boxscore
SMHS 22-10-18-19 = 69
RCSS 15-13-13-12 = 53
St. Mary's
N. Riley 4-7 FG, 2-5 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 10 Pts.
A. Sutton 3-9 FG, 2-4 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 9 Pts.
Thompson 4-10 FG, 4-8 FT, 4 Reb, 4 Ast - 12 Pts.
T. Simon 7-18 FG, 2-2 FT, 9 Reb, 3 Ast - 17 Pts.
J. Hergott 1-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Ast - 2 Pts.
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Stephenson 6-13 FG, 0-1 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 15 Pts.
H. Abara 1-1 FG, 2-2 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 4 Pts.
Field Goals: 26-63 (.412). Free-Throws: 12-22 (.545). Three-Point Goals: 6-18, .333 (J. Stephenson 3-5, A. Sutton 1-5, T. Simon 1-7, T. Thompson 0-1).
Resurrection
T. Hunter 1-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Ast - 2 Pts.
A. Schneider 2-11 FG, 2-2 FT, 2 Reb, 4 Ast - 6 Pts.
P. McGlynn 3-9 FG, 2-2 FT, 11 Reb, 4 Ast - 10 Pts.
K. Gany 4-7 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Ast - 11 Pts.
J. Gilbert 7-11 FG, 6-7 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 20 Pts.
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M. Wylie 0-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
K. Milio 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Z. Holness 1-1 FG, 2-2 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
Field Goals: 18-45 (.400). Free-Throws: 12-13 (.923). Three-Point Goals: 5-13, .384 (K. Gany 3-4, P. McGlynn 2-4, A. Schneider 0-1, T. Hunter 0-2, M. Wylie 0-2).
