15U Men’s Recap – Day 6

The stage was set for the Gold Medal game between Nova Scotia and Quebec.  With a big crowd on hand to catch the finals, both teams came ready to play.  In the first quarter, Nova Scotia put on intensity to force Quebec to make 9 turnovers while capitalizing on 2nd chance points.  At the end of 1st quarter, Nova Scotia held a small lead at 16-15.  In the 2nd quarter, Quebec held its ground with To Randriasalama contributing 9 points in the quarter to bring Quebec back up on top with a 35-33 lead going into the half.  The see-saw battle continued in the 3rd as the lead changed 4 times in the quarter.  Led by Kellen Tynes (21 points, 8 rebounds), Nova Scotia rallied in the 3rd to regain the lead by 5 points going into the final frame.  Not ready to lay down without putting up a fight, Quebec’s Joseph Alexander Malachi contributed 13 points in the 4th quarter bringing Quebec back on top.  It was Nova Scotia’s 3 point shooting late in the game that iced the game for Nova Scotia, capturing the 15U National Championship.

The Bronze medal game saw a matchup between Ontario vs. Saskatchewan.  Hoping to avenge a heart breaking loss from the night before, Ontario came out firing taking an early 25-11 lead after the first quarter.  Continuing their strong defense, Ontario controlled the pace of the game forcing Saskatchewan to make 33 turnovers throughout the game and scoring 37 points off those turnovers.  Ontario’s size was also a tough match for the Saskatchewan team as they outscored them inside the paint 68-30.  Ontario utilized a balanced scoring attack featuring 5 players scoring in double digits (Justice Prentice 13, Addison Patterson 13, Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe 13).  Saskatchewan’s scoring was led by Alan Spoonhunter with 27 points.

In the battle for 5th place, Manitoba played host to Alberta.  Poised to pull out a win in front of the home town crowd, Manitoba attacked early to take a 23-16 lead after the 1st frame.  Alberta’s Holt Tomie and Brandon Munto chipped in 11 points each before the half to help their squad climb back and take a 40-39 lead at the half.  With the score tied in the third, Manitoba went on an 8-0 run to close out the quarter.  With the home town fans providing the energy, Manitoba never looked back as they went on to defeat Alberta by a final score of 83-69.  Manitoba was led by Kyler Filewich (19 points, 16 rebounds) and Illia Goloshchapov (15 points, 10 rebounds).  Alberta’s Brandon Munto finished with 23 points and Holt Tomie had 22 points.

In the 7th place seeding matchup, Newfoundland took on New Brunswick.  Newfoundland’s tight defense early on limited New Brunswick to just 15% shooting in the first half.  Capturing on a big 2nd quarter run, led by Caleb d’Entremont and Caleb Sooley, Newfoundland took a commanding 35-19 lead going into the half.  Newfoundland continued their attack and had a 20 point lead going into the final frame.  In the 4th quarter, New Brunswick turned on overdrive and powered a 10-0 run to start off the quarter and finished off the quarter outscoring Newfoundland 24-4 to tie the game and force overtime.  In the overtime period, Newfoundland’s two Caleb’s – Caleb Sooley (34 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks) and Caleb d’Entremont (23 points, 8 rebounds), proved to be too much for New Brunswick as they came out on top to defeat New Brunswick by a final score of 78-71.  New Brunswick’s top scorer is Ryan Scott with 21 points, 12 rebounds.

17U Men’s Recap – Day 6

The final game of the tournament saw the two undefeated teams – Ontario and Nova Scotia squaring off for the Gold Medal and the National Championship title.  The bigger Ontario team utilized their size early scoring most of their points in the paint, while dominating the board on both ends of the court.  Ontario controlled the quarter leading 21-18 after the first.  Ontario continued to pour on their attack led by Emmanuel Miller, who was perfect from the field in the first half with 20 points.  Again, with size playing a huge factor, Ontario out-rebounded Nova Scotia 34-18, taking a 10 point lead into halftime.  In the third, the scrappy Nova Scotia team continued to crawl back.  Led by Chase Tynes with 10 points in the 3rd quarter, Nova Scotia cut the deficit to just 2 points; setting up an exciting last quarter.  With Ontario unable to convert some easy baskets, while Nova Scotia continued to press, Nova Scotia pulled off a major come from behind upset over Ontario to capture the National Title by a score of 86-80.  Nova Scotia’s top performers were Chase Tynes (22 points, 7 rebounds, 8 steals) and Ben Stevens (17 points, 15 rebounds).  Ontario’s top performers were Emanuel Miller (31 points, 11 rebounds) and Khaleem Bennett (13 points).

After a heart-breaking 2 point defeat to Ontario the night before, Manitoba had to regroup quickly as they played host to British Columbia in the 3rd place game.  Capitalizing on Manitoba’s fatigue, British Columbia jumped out early to take a 20-11 lead after the 1st quarter.  Controlling the paint on both ends of the court, BC out-rebounded Manitoba 30-20 at half time and put up 26 of their 40 points in the paint.  At the end of 1st half, the score was 40-23 in favour of British Columbia.  The determined Manitoba squad led by point guard Daniel Sackey (26 points, 8 assists) put on tight pressure defensively to force BC to make turnovers in the 3rd quarter.  Manitoba got to within 6 points early in the 4th quarter before British Columbia pulled away with some timely 3-point shooting and clutch free throws to close out the game.  Final score was 92-74.  British Columbia top scorers were Kenan Kadzovic (16 points) and Mason Bourcier (15 points, 10 assists).

In the 5th place game, Quebec played Saskatchewan.  Quebec was able to utilize their size to score 32 of their 40 points in the first half from inside the paint.  At the half, Quebec was up 40-27 scoring on 53% of their field goal attempts while limiting Saskatchewan to only 24% from the field.  Quebec continued to play tough keeping their distance, led by Ja’Shonte Wright-McLeish (16 points, 5 steals) and McFadden Jean (13 points).  In the end, Quebec came out on top defeating Saskatchewan by a final score of 83-69.  Saskatchewan’s top scorer was Shol Ayach with 20 points.

In the battle of 7th place, Alberta took on Newfoundland.  The two teams looked evenly matched in the first half as the score was tied at 33-33 at halftime.  Alberta started off the 3rd quarter with a 9-0 run, getting key contributions from Adong Makuoi (22 points, 7 rebounds) and Geoffrey James (17 points, 5 steals).  The big Alberta 3rd quarter gave them a 19 point lead going into the last quarter.  Knowing it’s their last chance, Newfoundland gave it a good run in the 4th, led by their leading scorer Emanuel Ring Lual (32 points, 10 rebounds, 6 steals).  In the end, Alberta managed to maintain their lead and was victorious over Newfoundland by a final score of 76-67.  

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