If you were to walk into the Cameron Heights gym as the clock wound down on Wednesday evening and glanced at the scoreboard, you might have thought that the Golden Gaels had controlled this year's WCSSAA final from start to finish against the Grand River Renegades.Actually, nothing could be further from the truth.
The Gaels did control the all-important fourth quarter, though, breaking open a game that was tied 41-all after three quarters with a 17-2 run over the first 5:30 of the final frame to win this one going away.
It was a great atmosphere for basketball, and arguably one of the better crowds that has been at a WCSSAA championship in recent memory.
Both teams seemed to feed off of the energy, trading blows in a first half that ended 28-24 for Cameron Heights on a Nik Farkic off-balance two-pointer from deep in the corner.
It certainly wasn't a bad half for Grand River when you consider that Murtada Khamis, one of their top offensive weapons, exited the game early in the second quarter and did not return for the remainder of the first half.
The teams continued to trade blows in the third, with David Bajic making a huge difference for the Rens. Bajic (who finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds) had basically that stat line (13pt/11 reb) towards the end of the third quarter.
That would be an indication of how rough the final frame was offensively if you were a Grand River fan.
The momentum had started to turn at the end of the third quarter, when Grand River (up three with the ball and :30 left) didn't hold for the final shot. After their attempt missed, Afraz Khan hit one of his five three-pointers in the game on the other end to tie things up at 41-41 heading into the fourth.
The fourth quarter then started auspiciously for Grand River, with Miro Iliev being on the wrong end of a controversial "block-charge" call, and then the Rens failing to come up with a defensive rebound on the other side of the court leading to a Jason Thompson putback and a 43-41 Cameron edge.
The floodgates would open from there.
The Gaels would score 9 points in a two minute span (keyed again by some timely Khan shooting and interior finishing by Thompson) to give themselves a 52-43 cushion with 4:30 remaining.
By the time there was 1:00 left on the clock, the Gaels were up 60-44, having held the Rens to just three fourth quarter points while scoring 19 themselves.
Cameron Heights put three players in double-figures, but the play of Nik Farkic was nothing short of exceptional.
Farkic verged on "triple-double" territory, finishing with 8 points, 7 rebounds and a ridiculous 13 assists. As I mentioned on my Twitter account yesterday, it was a most impressive performance:
Yup...highest total ever for a game I've tracked. #Farkic "@GarrettLarge: @CWOSSABball 13 assists? mvp."
— CWOSSA Basketball (@CWOSSABball) February 20, 2014
The Gaels' sharing of the ball was certainly one of the differences in this one as they had 19 assists on 23 made field goals. Let that sink in for a second.Personally, I've probably never seen such an impressive display of sharing the basketball in a CWOSSA-based game.
Three-point shooting was another huge factor, with the Gaels going 8-for-17 beyond the arc while the Rens were just 2-for-19.
As the clock wound down, the Cameron contingent began the "M-V-P" chants for Farkic whenever he touched the ball, and they could barely contain their enthusiasm as they rushed the floor while the final few seconds were ticking away.
Barry Hayes from Hoopstars Canada was in attendance as well and had this to say about Cameron's performance:
Leadership from Nikola Farkic, hot shooting from Afraz Khan & all-around hustle from Jason Thompson among bright spots for #WCSSAA champs.
— Barry Hayes (@hoopstarscanada) February 20, 2014
For the Gaels, Sasha Simic led the way with 16 points, while Afraz Khan had 15 --- all from outside the three-point arc. Jason Thompson netted 13, while Farkic (8), Ivan Cucak (6), Gordan Erkic (3) and Jackie Do (2) were the other Gaels on the scoresheet.Farkic also contributed on the defensive end for Cameron, as he was often tagged with matching up with Grand River's scoring star, Chuder Teny. He did his best at limiting the damage on this night, as Teny finished under his season average with 14 points to lead the Rens.
David Bajic (double-double with 13 points + 12 rebounds), Miro Iliev (12), Murtada Khamis (3), Petar Petkovic (3), and Patrik Odouk (1) rounded out the Renegade scoring.
Grand River failed in their attempt to win their first-ever WCSSAA title since the school was established in 1966. However, they'll have another opportunity at a "first" this coming weekend --- a CWOSSA title as they, along with Cameron Heights, are participating in the four-team AAAA event.
Kitchener St. Mary's and Guelph JF Ross (winners of a qualifying game yesterday) round out the field.
Boxscore
GRCI 11-13-17-05 = 46
CHCI 12-16-13-22 = 63
Cameron Heights
N. Farkic 2-7 FG, 4-7 FT, 7 Reb, 13 Ast - 8 Pts.
A. Khan 5-9 FG, 0-0 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 15 Pts.
S. Simic 5-14 FG, 3-5 FT, 5 Reb, 2 Ast - 16 Pts.
I. Cucak 3-8 FG, 0-0 FT, 9 Reb, 2 Ast - 6 Pts.
Thompson 6-11 FG, 1-4 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 13 Pts.
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J. Do 1-5 FG, 0-2 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.
G. Erkic 1-2 FG, 1-2 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.
Field Goals: 23-56 (.411). Free-Throws: 9-20 (.450). Three-Point Goals: 8-17, .471 (A. Khan 5-9, S. Simic 3-6, N. Farkic 0-2).
Grand River
C. Teny 3-12 FG, 7-7 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 14 Pts.
M. Khamis 1-5 FG, 1-2 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.
M. Iliev 3-9 FG, 5-7 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 12 Pts.
D. Bajic 6-11 FG, 1-2 FT, 12 Reb, 0 Ast - 13 Pts.
P. Petkovic 1-2 FG, 1-1 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Ast - 3 Pts.
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A. Ali 0-6 FG, 0-0 FT, 6 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
P. Odouk 0-6 FG, 1-2 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 1 Pt.
A. Trtovac 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
N. Mohamd 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 14-51 (.275). Free-Throws: 16-21 (.762). Three-Point Goals: 2-19, .105 (M. Iliev 1-4, C. Teny 1-6, D. Bajic 0-2, M. Khamis 0-3, P. Odouk 0-4).
