D8 Senior Final: Eagles Shoot Lights Out in Fourth Straight Finals Win

Make it 53 and counting.

The St. Mary's Eagles completed their fourth consecutive unbeaten D8 season, and have now won 53 consecutive league and playoff games after a 78-55 championship final victory over the St. Benedict Saints on their home floor yesterday evening.

Things were tight in the early going, with the Eagles holding a one-possession lead before Jermaine Lyle had an "and-one" lay-in off a steal with seconds to play in the opening frame; this gave St. Mary's a 21-16 lead after one quarter.

The Eagles slowly took control in the second stanza, and they did it with balance.  Six Eagles scored 5 or more points in the half, including Thijien Simon, who hit two three-pointers late in the quarter as part of a half-closing 11-0 run to put St. Mary's in the driver's seat (44-29) at halftime.

St. Benedict was unable to chip away in the third, as the hot-shooting from St. Mary's continued.  St. Benedict didn't shoot poorly on Monday evening (actually 50% for the game), but the Eagles were on fire, extending their lead to 61-42 after three.

With a 19-point lead into the fourth, things were basically a formality and Jamari Stephenson put three exclamation points on the victory with a trio of final-frame dunks.  

After the game, Stephenson told CTV Kitchener that he loves to get the crowd into the game.

"It's showtime. Gotta entertain the fans, that's all I think about," he said.

As I mentioned yesterday, not many teams in the province will beat St. Mary's when they shoot as they did on Monday.  The Eagles finished 63.8% from the floor overall, including nearly 80% (!) from 2-point range (22-for-28).  All 5 Eagle starters shot at least 50% on field goal attempts.

The Eagles also displayed tremendous unselfishness with the basketball, with all starters registering at least two assists.

Things aren't all bad for St. Benedict, as they are projected to be one of the top teams in CWOSSA next season.  Their youthful roster saw grade 11s score all but two of their 55 points, meaning the future is bright down in Cambridge.  Their starting lineup was entirely grade 11s, as well.

Scoring-wise, St. Mary's spread things around with four players in double-figures.  Tesloth Simon had 18 to lead the way, while Jamari Stephenson and Jermaine Lyle had 15 each.  Thijien Simon notched 11 points, while Nathan Riley had 8 (alongside 12 rebounds and 6 assists), Tyrick Thompson 6 and Minas Abara 5 to round out the Eagle scoring.

Zubair Seyed was strong in defeat for St. Benedict, putting home a game-high 20 points.  Justin Malnerich had 12 points, all behind the arc, while other Saints to hit the scoresheet included Alex Douglas (8), Lucas Cardoso (6), Mohamed Hajjo (3), Evan Rodenburg (2), Marcus Penaloza (2), and Jamal Hajo (2).

St. Mary's will now move on to play JF Ross in a CWOSSA "AAAA" qualifer in Guelph tomorrow evening.

Despite the Royals being a veteran-laden club and playing on their home floor in front of a rowdy fan-base, St. Mary's Coach Jason Hergott told CTV Kitchener that he doesn't feel that the Eagles will be fazed.

"Ross can bring as many noisemakers as they want, we'll be glad to entertain them," he said.

Boxscore
SBCSS  16-13-13-13 = 55
SMHS   21-23-17-17 = 78

St. Benedict (55)
Z. Seyed        7-16 FG, 4-6 FT, 3 Reb, 5 Ast - 20 Pts.
L. Cardoso    2-5 FG, 1-2 FT, 1 Reb, 2 Ast - 6 Pts.
J. Malnerich   4-8 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 2 Ast - 12 Pts.
A. Douglas     4-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 8 Pts.
E. Rodenburg 1-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.
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M. Penaloza   1-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
J. Hajo           1-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
M. Hajjo        1-3 FG, 1-4 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.
O. Camanto    0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals:  21-42 (.500).  Free-Throws:  6-12 (.500).  Three-Point Goals:  7-17, .411 (J. Malnerich 4-7, Z. Seyed 2-6, L. Cardoso 1-3, M. Hajjo 0-1).

St. Mary's (78)
N. Riley         3-6 FG, 2-3 FT, 12 Reb, 6 Ast - 8 Pts.
Te. Simon     7-10 FG, 2-4 FT, 3 Reb, 3 Ast - 18 Pts.
T. Thompson 3-4 FG, 0-2 FT, 0 Reb, 2 Ast - 6 Pts.
J. Lyle           5-6 FG, 4-5 FT, 4 Reb, 4 Ast - 15 Pts.
J. Steph'son   6-12 FG, 2-2 FT, 5 Reb, 2 Ast - 15 Pts.
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A. Eleeda      0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
M. Abara      2-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 5 Pts.
Th. Simon     4-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 11 Pts.
H. Abara      0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
B. Niel          0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
D. Nguyen    0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals:  30-47 (.638).  Free-Throws:  10-16 (.625).  Three-Point Goals:  8-19, .421 (Th. Simon 3-4, Te. Simon 2-5, M. Abara 1-1, J. Lyle 1-2, J. Stephenson 1-5, N. Riley 0-1, A. Eleeda 0-1).