The fourth time was the charm.For grade twelves on the St. Benedict CSS Senior Boys' basketball roster, this year marked the fourth consecutive year for them that they would have played the St. Mary's Eagles in the D8 Finals (Junior in 2013 & 14, Senior in 2015 & 16).
After being on the short end of the previous three encounters, the Saints are finally back on top of the D8 basketball world, winning the school's first Senior title since 2001.
It certainly didn't come as easily as the final 64-51 score might indicate, as it wasn't until the second half that St. Benedict was able to gradually pull away.
In fact, the Saints held a slim one-point lead after the opening frame, and led by five points late in the second quarter when the "TSN turning point" occurred.
St. Mary's had the ball, and were holding for the final shot of the frame when Adham Eleeda was called for an offensive foul as he began his drive to the basket with :06 left.
That set up.....this:
As a result of that Zubair Seyed three-pointer, the Saints took a more comfortable 8-point lead into the locker room.Buzzer Beater @ZubairSeyed pic.twitter.com/UyqiDa16o5— Lucas Santos (@LucasJrSantos) February 20, 2016
The Eagles didn't back down, cutting the lead down to 37-33 mid-way through the third quarter, but SMHS' momentum was stifled after Minas Abara picked up his fourth foul of the game, and had to exit. St. Benedict went on a prompt 7-0 run keyed by five quick points from Justin Malnerich, to assume their first double-digit lead of the game at 44-33.
From that point on, the Saints were primarily in control -- the Eagles did threaten a bit late in the fourth quarter after a couple of SBCSS turnovers, and did have a three-point opportunity to get to within 5; however, that miss and a couple of excellent cuts for lay-ups on the part of the Saints put things away and secured their first D8 title in 15 years.
Devante Douse led the way for St. Benedict with a 22-point, 12-rebound performance; the Saints actually almost doubled up the undersized Eagles on the glass, holding a 38 to 20 rebounding edge.
Zubair Seyed had 20, doing most of his damage (17) in the first half. Justin Malnerich added 11 points, while Evan Rodenburg had 6 points and 16 rebounds. Alex Douglas rounded out the Saint scoring, with 5.
Following the win, star guard Zubair Seyed complemented the school and community support from East Galt, and was happy to have gotten the win, especially on home court.
"It's very big for our school and the name we are trying to put out to the young ones (in the community) who are moving up to high school basketball. A lot of kids in the community look up to us, and as the alumni did for us, we're trying to make the way for them," he said.
"It was great to get that win in front of our friends and family out there, and that made it even more special," he said.
"Just seeing everyone so happy (for us) that we finally achieved one of our goals was a blessing."
Seyed agreed that his half-time buzzer beater was one of the biggest shots he's hit in his high school career.
"Definitely it was one of the biggest shots in my career; just have to thank God -- he's the one that put that one in for me."
On the St. Mary's side of things, Adham Eleeda had a solid effort, hitting a few deep (and tough) three-point looks en route to a 18 point, 11 rebound performance. Heanok Abara had 11, Minas Abara scored 7, while Tyreak Farquharson (6), Kanayo Nnadi (3), Josh Maligaya (3) and Michael Alemu (2) rounded out the St. Mary's scoresheet.
St. Benedict will advance to the "AAA" CWOSSA championship to be contested this coming weekend in Waterloo. The season is done for St. Mary's, who had advanced to the previous four OFSAA championships.
The Senior Game was the third in a "triple-header" on Friday evening at St. Benedict. Earlier in the evening, the St. Mary's Eagles took home both midget & junior championships.
Samuel Kannah scored 16 points as the St. Mary's Eagles midgets (who are probably better than some CWOSSA junior teams) recorded a 63-29 win over Resurrection. Jake Bilitz was the top scorer for the Phoenix, with 7.
On the junior side, the Eagles completed their perfect season and took home their 6th straight D8 title with a convincing 68-45 win over St. Benedict. The game was tight early on, before a 17-0 St. Mary's run allowed them to take control.
The backcourt tandem of Ethan Passley (17) and Michael Carali (12) both had double digit efforts for the Eagles, while St. Benedict was led by Ben Mascarenhas, with 15.
Senior Boxscore
SMHS 14-15-10-12 = 51
SBCSS 15-22-15-12 = 64
St. Mary's
D. Nguyen 0-6 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
K. Nnadi 0-8 FG, 3-5 FT, 0 Reb, 3 Ast - 3 Pts.
A. Eleeda 7-13 FG, 1-2 FT, 11 Reb, 2 Ast - 18 Pts.
H. Abara 5-10 FG, 0-0 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 11 Pts.
M. Abara 2-5 FG, 2-2 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Ast - 7 Pts.
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Farquharson 2-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 6 Pts.
J. Maligaya 0-1 FG, 3-3 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.
M. Alemu 1-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
Field Goals: 17-50 (.340). Free-Throws: 9-12 (.750). Three-Point Goals: 7-26, .269 (A. Eleeda 3-4, T. Farquharson 2-4, H. Abara 1-3, M. Abara 1-4, J. Maligaya 0-1 M. Alemu 0-1, D. Nguyen 0-4, K. Nnadi 0-5).
St. Benedict
Z. Seyed 8-18 FG, 3-4 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Ast - 20 Pts.
J. Malnerich 4-10 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 11 Pts.
A. Douglas 2-4 FG 1-2 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 5 Pts.
D. Douse 10-18 FG, 2-6 FT, 12 Reb, 2 Ast - 22 Pts.
Rodenburg 3-7 FG, 0-0 FT, 16 Reb, 0 Ast - 6 Pts.
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M. Hajjo 0-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
C. Johnson 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
M. Penaloza 0-0 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: 27-60 (.450). Free-Throws: 6-12 (.500). Three-Point Goals: 4-11, .363 (J. Malnerich 3-7, Z. Seyed 1-3, M. Hajjo 0-1).
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