For the second consecutive season, the SJAM Highlanders are on top of the WCSSAA basketball world, and there's no arguing it.The 'Lander Junior and Senior Boys' Basketball teams took home both titles again yesterday, and also completed undefeated seasons in the process. I'll have to do some digging, but I can't immediately recall a WCSSAA season where one school's teams went undefeated through the playoffs.
That said, yesterday's games were far from a walk in the park.
On the junior side, #3-seeded Bluevale used some hot early shooting to open up a double-digit lead (29-19) on SJAM before a 6-0 Highlander run cut things to 29-25 at the break.
After being tied at 38-all entering the fourth, another 6-point 'Lander surge pushed things to 49-43; they would go on to a 55-50 victory.
Dragan Stajic scored 18 to lead SJAM (and all scorers), while Chris Bullock and Maksim Koprivica added 13 each. Gony Dak (13) and Michael Allen (12) were BCI's top scorers.
Senior - SJAM 54, Forest Hts. 49
The top-ranked SJAM Highlanders entered the senior final as prohibitive favourites, likely by double-digits as far as the imaginary "Vegas lines" would be concerned.
However, the Forest Heights Trojans, who had defeated the #3 KCI Raiders and #2 Eastwood Rebels (holding both to sub-40 point games) came out with confidence and certainly weren't intimidated by their first time on the big stage of the WCSSAA Finals.
SJAM led by only one point (14-13) after the opening frame before some Trojan foul trouble in the second quarter put SJAM into the bonus early --- they would take advantage to a degree, extending to a 29-23 lead at the intermission.
Simon Petrov had a strong second half, displaying a very strong mid-range game, that helped SJAM get a little more breathing room in the third; the 'Landers took their first double-digit lead of the game in the stanza before settling for a 41-32 lead after three.
The Trojans certainly had their chances in the fourth quarter, but just couldn't seem to get any closer than 6 points. That said, when the 'Landers looked like they might put it out of reach, the Trojans always seemed to have an answer.
Jalen Nong hit a couple of big three-pointers in the final frame, including one with about 2:30 to go that cut the Trojan deficit to 7.
In the end, FHCI couldn't make any further inroads and both teams emptied their benches with just under a minute to go and a 9-point SJAM lead. Forest Heights would score 4 points in the final :05 of the game (and "and-one" followed by a basket off of the missed free throw) to account for the game's final margin.
Petrov was impressive for SJAM, putting home 19 points while adding 10 rebounds. Nedim Hodzic didn't quite get his usual double-double, settling for 8 rebounds alongside his 19 points. The other "big-three" member, Justin Hardy, chipped in with 9 points and 8 rebounds.
Forest Heights used a 10-man rotation, and saw 8 players hit the scoresheet. Rakesh Arjun led the way with a 12-point effort, while Manraj Jugpal scored 11 while adding 7 rebounds.
Amir Meftuh had 7, Jalen Nong 6, and Riley Anderson 5 off the bench for FHCI.
Both teams will advance to this weekend's CWOSSA "AAA" tournament, hosted at SJAM.
(Game Boxscore To Follow)
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