Duemo slam dunk choice for Standard MVP
St. Francis’ Quinton Duemo (4) was named MVP of the Standard tournament.
Quinton Duemo used a dominating performance in the championship game to become the overwhelming choice for MVP of The 58th Standard High School Basketball Tournament.
The 6-foot-1 guard poured in 34 points Friday night at St. Catharines Collegiate, including 21 in the second half, to lead the top-seeded Phoenix to a 70-58 victory over the second-seeded E.L. Crossley Cyclone.
Cyclone head coach Brian Bleich was impressed with Duemo’s play.
“He is such a good athlete,” he said. “He can shoot and he can run the break and get to the basket. He’s a tough guy to stop.”
The 17-year-old averaged 15.3 points per game in tournament, but clearly saved his best game for the final. He was all smiles as he hung tight to the MVP trophy after the game.
“It does mean a lot but I would like to give this trophy out to my entire team,” he said. “We wouldn’t have got it done it wasn’t for all 12 of us. We came out and played to the best of our ability.”
He never expected to come up with the game he had Friday.
“I did not imagine it, I did not think about it at all and that wasn’t my focus,” he said. “My focus was coming up with a good team win and I was just on fire tonight.”
By the third quarter, he knew something special was happening.
“It got to the point where I didn’t think I would miss any more,” he said. “Every time I got the ball, I looked to see if I could attack or shoot it and I think it worked out pretty well.”
Duemo even channelled his best Kawhi Leonard impression halfway through the fourth quarter when he sank a corner three that bounced three or four times on the rim before going in. It was reminiscent of the former Toronto Raptors’ shot that eliminated the Philadelphia 76ers from the playoffs.
“I saw it hit off the rim and I thought it was a miss. Then I saw it hit the rim two or three more times and then it went it and it was ‘Wow.’ ”
His thoughts went to Leonard’s shot at the moment and it was almost as big. The three gave St. Francis its first double-digit lead of the night.
During Friday’s final, the Grade 12 student hit the floor hard four of five times, but he always bounced back up and got back in the action.
“That is just the type of person I am,” he said. “I am going to lay my body on the line to get the win and do it for the team.”
He expected to pay the price for all the wipeouts Saturday.
“I’m not too sore right now but I can only imagine tomorrow. I am not going to be able to walk.”
Duemo credited E.L. Crossley for giving the Phoenix a tough game.
“They have a lot of talent on that team and it was a good back and forth game.”
After the game, Duemo shared a hug with several of the Crossley players.
“I used to play travel ball with a lot of them and I have grown to playing basketball with them,” he said. “It was really cool to play against them.”
Joining Duemo on the first all-star team were St. Francis’ Igor M’Baya and E.L. Crossley’s T.J. Hurley, Jason Carter and Owen Dobbie.
M’Baya averaged 12.7 points a game in the tournament, including 17 in the championship game, and had a solid tournament at the point guard position.
Hurley finished second in tournament scoring by averaging 22.5 points a game. He got better as the tournament went along, netting 32 in a semifinal victory over Governor Simcoe and 24 in the final despite being the focus of the St. Francis defence.
Carter averaged 7.5 points a game in the tournament, including six in the final. He and fellow Grade 12 player Aiden Belding were steadying influences on the young Crossley roster.
Dobbie averaged 10.3 points per game in the tournament while playing excellent defence.
Named to the second all-star team were Eden’s Trent Thorpe, Sir Winston Churchill’s Alex Evseyev, Governor Simcoe’s Mitch McPherson, Centennial’s Nick Yioldassis and St. Francis’ Max Riddell.
Thorpe averaged 20.7 points in the tournament including a game-high 28 in a hard-fought opening win against Smithville Christian. His play helped fourth-seeded Eden make the semifinals.
Evseyev averaged 23.7 points a game, including 35 in the consolation semifinals and 16 in the consolation final.
McPherson averaged 17 points in the tournament, including 23 in the semifinals as third-seeded Simcoe was defeated by second-seeded Crossley.
Yioldassis averaged 15 points in the tournament, including a game-high 19 points in the consolation final. He also hitting the winning free throws in the dying seconds of the final.
Riddell averaged 13 points a game in the tournament, including 42 in his team’s first two games.
