Article By: Vincent BallThe St. John's College Green Eagles led only once in the deciding game of their best-of-three high school junior boys basketball championship series with the North Park Collegiate Trojans.
Fortunately for them, it was at the end of the Wednesday's game.
The Green Eagles defeated the Trojans 42-41 in what was one of the most exciting finishes to a Brant County junior boys championship in years.
"Winning like this, it's an amazing feeling," Chris Brewster of the Eagles said following the game.
North Park forced a Game 3 showdown by defeating St. John's 54-50 in Game 2. St. John's won Game 1 67-49.
In Game 3, North Park took an early lead with a three-pointer by Jamie Grant and finished the opening quarter with a 17-10 lead. Grant hit for nine points in the quarter.
Meanwhile, St. John's had trouble scoring. And, when the Eagles did get on a run, the Trojans replied with three-pointers.
The Eagles, led by Ryan Kidd's four points in the first quarter, managed to scrap together baskets cashing in rebounds.
With just a couple of minutes left in the second quarter, St. John's fought back to tie the game at 20. Mike Dubois and Joe O'Grady each made three-pointers to lead the charge.
But the Trojans got some timely shooting of their own. Cal Hager nailed a couple of three-pointers, and Ethan Andrew and Grant, at the buzzer, each got one to give the Trojans a 31-22 lead at the half.
The Green Eagles came back strong in the second half.
"We were really sloppy in the first half and made a lot of mistakes," said Brewster. "We just looked at it like the second half was the start of a new game and worked really hard."
In the third quarter, SJC scored 12 points including three-pointers by Ben Kwasnik and O'Grady. The Trojans, meanwhile, scored only eight, including a three from Grant.
In the fourth quarter, the Trojans managed only two points, while the Green Eagles got eight with contributions from Tommy Gemmell, Kwasnik and Kidd.
"It's a tough loss," said the Trojans' Andrew following the game.
"But I'm proud of our team. We bounced back from a tough opening 18-point loss," he said.
"A lot of teams would have folded after a loss like that but we came back, won the second game and almost pulled off a win tonight."
Trojans coach Andrea Hawkins said she is pleased with her players.
"Our kids played like a team," she said. "It has taken us a long time to get to that point but we finally got there and really you don't usually get a series like this at the junior level.
"Both teams played well, made big shots. You can't ask for better."
A veteran coach at the high school and club basketball level, Hawkins said she is especially impressed by the play of Kwasnik and Gemmell for the Green Eagles.
The Green Eagles got 11 points from Kwasnik, eight from Kidd, who fouled out early in the fourth quarter, and six each from Brewster and Gemmell.
The Trojans were led by Grant with 16, Hager with 11 and Andrew with 7.
Members of the Green Eagles championship team not already mentioned are Matt Klegg, Parker Underwood, Liam MacMillan, Alex Rewutzsky, Jacob Spencer, Kobe Beaton and Sarb Singh. They are coached by Mike Petrella and his father, Tony.
Retrieved From: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2015/02/18/high-school-boys-basketball-jr-eagles-win-nail-biter
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