Brantford Expositor: Senior Lions' Season Comes To An End At CWOSSA

Article By:  Brian Smiley

Two weeks without competition didn't help the Assumption College Lions at home on Friday in their opening CWOSSA 'AAAA' senior boys basketball game.

Assumption started its Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association tournament with a 55-40 loss to Waterloo's Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders.

Playing in their first game since defeating the North Park Collegiate Trojans on Feb. 13 to claim their second straight Brant County championship, the Lions couldn't shake off the cobwebs.

"They came out and played hard but that was our first game in over two weeks," said ACS coach Mike Petrella. "We were a bit rusty. We weren't knocking down shots.

"That's the game of basketball. Sometimes you're hitting, sometimes you're missing."

Assumption struggled with its shooting the entire game and it didn't take long to recognize that was going to be an issue as SJAM built an early 15-8 lead in the first quarter.

Despite being behind, the Lions did play hard and on a Mike King three-pointer with five seconds remaining in the first quarter, ACS was down by one, 15-14.

Following an Andre Toic field goal 15 seconds into the second quarter, Assumption held its first lead of the game -- but it was short-lived. The Highlanders followed that basket up with a 6-0 run before Mike Heron hit a three to stop the streak.

However, going down low to use their height advantage over the Lions certainly worked for the Highlanders.
"You've got to give Sir John A. Macdonald credit though because they play hard," Petrella said.

"We've got to do a better job of keeping people off the glass."

In the third quarter, SJAM stretched its lead to 13 - to 39-26 - before heading to the fourth ahead 46-32.
After that the Lions tried desperately - on one possession they launched three, three-pointers and none would drop - to come back, but at 2:36 the coaches decided to sub out their starting five.

"The reason we did it was because we wanted to give the five guys rest for (Friday night), that's why we did it," Petrella said.

"It's not often you get to go to CWOSSA so those (bench) guys they got an opportunity to say now that they've played a little bit in a CWOSSA game."

Petrella said in the team's next game, the plan would be simple.

"We've just got to work harder," said the coach. "If we win our next game, we move on. We have to remain positive.

"We've got to play better defensively. We've got to keep guys off the glass and we just have to make some of our shots. The game of basketball is about putting the ball in the net. If you're not putting it in the net, you're not going to win."

Unfortunately for the Lions, their season came to an end later Friday night when St. Mary's eliminated them with a 68-61 decision.

The tournament continues on Saturday at ACS, with the junior final slated for 5 p.m. and the senior championship to follow at 7 p.m.

Retrieved From:  http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2015/02/27/senior-lions-season-comes-to-an-end-at-cwossa