"AAAA" Senior: 'Landers Jump Out Early, Control Final En Route to Title

The SJAM Highlanders jumped out early, then rode their big lead home as they took the 2015 CWOSSA "AAAA" Senior basketball title by a 74-58 score on Saturday evening at Assumption College in Brantford.

The 'Landers received contributions up and down their lineup in the early going, with a couple of the usual suspects (Nedim Hodzic, Simon Petrov) doing most of the early damage.  Devon Gallivan, though, also got involved early with a big-three pointer that was part of an 18-3 SJAM run to start the game.

Things didn't get much better for the Eagles early in the second, as SJAM extended the lead to 26-9, before some tough Tesloth Simon three-pointers helped St. Mary's cut the deficit to 13 (40-27) at the half.

SJAM, though, was dominant on the interior in the third quarter, with both Hodzic and Brett Parrott hitting the scoresheet several times in extending the SJAM lead to 20+ (51-22).  By that point in the third, Hodzic already had his usual "double-double" (17pts, 10reb at that point).

To give St. Mary's credit, their 5th year veterans certainly didn't quit despite being down nearly 20 after three (56-38).  In fact, a 7-0 "blitz" over the course of a minute brought things to within 9 points (56-47) and still almost 6 minutes to play.

SJAM, though, responded with a 7-0 run of their own to put St. Mary's up against the wall, which included a huge Gallivan three-pointer in transition.

The Eagles weren't able to get back within single digits down the stretch, as SJAM held on for a big win.

Hodzic finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds, while Simon Petrov had 18 points and 6 assists.  Brett Parrott and Justin Hardy (16 and 10) were also in double-figures for SJAM, while Devon Gallivan had 6.

Tesloth Simon and Nathan Riley had 15 each for the Eagles, while Minas Abara (11), Adham Eleeda (9), and Jamari Stephenson (7) rounded out the St. Mary's scoring.

The weekend performance by both teams brings up some interesting questions in advance of the "AAAA" OFSAA seeding release.  St. Mary's clearly has a very solid resume, including their tournament win at the Silver Fox.  SJAM, meanwhile, doesn't have the "name brand" wins that St. Mary's does, but a big win over St. Mary's and some huge wins down the stretch should certainly help where they end up.  

It will be interesting, that's for sure.  Good luck to both teams down in Windsor!

Boxscore
SJAM   20-20-16-18 = 74
SMHS  09-18-11-20 = 58

SMHS
N. Riley          7-19 FG, 1-1 FT, 10 Reb, 1 Ast - 15 Pts.
Te. Simon       4-11 FG, 4-4 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 15 Pts.
T. Thompson  0-7 FG, 0-2 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
J. Lyle            0-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
J. Stephenson 2-9 FG, 1-2 FT, 2 Reb 0 Ast - 7 Pts.
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M. Abara       4-7 FG, 1-3 FT, 5 Reb, 3 Ast - 11 Pts.
A. Eleeda       4-8 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 3 Ast - 9 Pts.
Th. Simon       0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
B. Niel           0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
H. Abara        0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.
D. Nguyen      0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals:  21-65 (.323).  Free-Throws:  7-12 (.583).  Three-Point Goals:  8-24, .333:  Te. Simon 3-7, M. Abara 2-4, J. Stephenson 2-5, A. Eleeda 1-3, J. Lyle 0-1, N. Riley 0-4.

SJAM
S. Petrov        7-12 FG, 4-4 FT, 4 Reb, 6 Ast - 18 Pts.
D. Gallivan      2-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast - 6 Pts.
J. Hardy          2-7 FG, 4-4 FT, 4 Reb, 4 Ast - 10 Pts.
B. Parrott       7-12 FG, 1-1 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 16 Pts.
N. Hodzic     11-18 FG, 3-5 FT, 15 Reb, 2 Ast - 25 Pts.
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JW Scheele     0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.
B. Vedut         0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
M. Maslenjak 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
P. Kapoor      0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
A. Bansal        0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
T. Perera        0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.

Field Goals:  29-54 (.537).  Free-Throws:  12-14 (.857).  Three-Point Goals:  5-14, .357:  D. Gallivan 2-4, J. Hardy 2-4, B. Parrott 1-4, N. Hodzic 0-1, S. Petrov 0-1.