The Record: St. James Ends Galt's OFSAA Aspirations

Photo Via @BrysonRecord

Article By:  Mark Bryson

GUELPH — The Galt Ghosts were just one win away from a berth in the all-Ontario high school basketball championship. 

And then the St. James Lions crushed the dream. 

The Guelph squad utilized its superior balance and depth to capture its second consecutive Central Western Ontario triple-A title on Monday night with a 60-47 win over Galt. 

The Lions advance to next week's OFSAA championship in Windsor. 

St. James' victory overshadowed an outstanding performance by Ghosts forward TJ Lall, who scored 20 of his game-high 28 points in the second half to keep his team in contention until the dying minutes. 

Lall scored 18 consecutive points at one point, including a four-point play and a three-pointer from at least 10 feet beyond the arc. 

"TJ's a helluva player and he wants it. He didn't want to lose today and he put it all out there," said Ghosts head coach Jeff Dunning. 

"They don't feel it now, but they're going to remember this. They're going to be disappointed for a bit, but this is something they'll look back on and have a lot of fond memories. They'll feel very proud of what they accomplished." 

Joey Hasson led the Lions with 18 points. Brandon Evans and Mitch Marquis had 10 apiece and Keegan Feeney had nine. 

By contrast, Lazar Stevanovic was Galt's second leading scorer with six points. 

"We got some guys that can score better than others, but I like to think we're nine or 10 deep," said Lions head coach Bob Sharpe. 

"I think we have a little more depth than Galt does and that helped in the long run." 

St. James never trailed and led 24-21 at the half. 

Lall scored the final six points of the half to keep the Ghosts close. He also scored Galt's first 12 points of the second half. 

Galt reached the final with a 62-48 win over the KCI Raiders while St. James scored a 51-29 win over Brantford North Park. 

Brantford's St John's College Eagles won the junior championship, recording a hard-fought 49-39 win over the Bluevale Knights. 

Ryan Kidd and Tommy Gemmell scored nine points each for the Eagles, who led 21-15 at halftime.

Greg Smith had 14 for Bluevale and Will Scheffler added 12. 

Bluevale captured a CWOSSA junior medal for the first time since 1989, when current head coach Doros Theodosiou was a player on the squad. 

Bluevale reached the final with a 38-36 win over the St. David Celtics. 

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