Bulldogs cap off undefeated season with AAA title
No SOSSA, no problem for the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs.
With both the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association and Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) cancelled this year due to the COVID pandemic, the Bulldogs put extra emphasis on the Zone 4 senior AAA boys basketball final.
Playing before a packed gym of crazed fans at Churchill, the Bulldogs topped the Eden Flyers 72-58 to capture the championship and run their undefeated streak to 11.
“The win and the championship is really just the cherry on top of the cake,” Sir Winston coach Martin Cook said. “Having this many people watch these guys play — they’re just a bunch of hoop junkies — and the fact we could play in this environment against a great team and get pushed to the limit right to the end in front of their friends and family, it couldn’t get any better.”
Cook had a brief meeting after the game with his players following the game where they all agreed the title took on extra glean without SOSSA and OFSAA.
“I would say it means more,” Cook said. “For the last two years, we’ve talked about SOSSA and OFSAA and The Standard Tournament and all those things. But not having them, not only did it not take away from today, but I think it added to the drama and passion that they have.”
Churchill’s Alexian Evyesev, who poured in 18 points, couldn’t agree more.
“The fans were crazy,” he said. “They won us the game, for real. I think they were a little rabid for sure.
“It was good. We played well in the last home game of the year and we came out on top.”
Evyesev, who does not play at the club level, admitted it has been difficult the last two seasons.
“It’s crazy. It’s been two years, no OFSAA, no Standard. I didn’t get to experience that,” said Evyesev, who goes by the nickname Cool Trae. “I didn’t want to do 12B even when I heard. I was going to drop it. What’s the point?
“It is very disappointing but we have the Niagara Classic and that’s all that’s on my mind.”
The Niagara Classic, officially known as the BPSN Best in Niagara Boys Basketball Tournament, begins Monday, March 28 and will feature some of the top junior and senior teams in the area.
Eden coach Jonathon Thorpe was happy his charges had an opportunity to play before such an enthusiastic crowd.
“It was an awful lot of fun for the guys for sure,” he said. “It was an experience they missed out on for the last year so this was a fantastic opportunity to play in a front of a good group of fans.
“It was a great game. We tip out hats to Sir Winston. They shot the ball well and did a great job.”
The Flyers lost only two games all season, both to the Bulldogs.
“It was really tough on the guys to stay in game-readiness after the stop but ultimately the only team we haven’t been able to beat in the area was Sir Winston,” Thorpe said. “We had a solid season. I’m proud of our guys and the way they played all year.”
STATS PACK
Bulldogs 72 Flyers 58
Cat’s Caboose Players of the Game: Sir Winston’s Brady Pupek and Eden’s Riley Stewart.
For the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs: Brady Pupek 19; Alexian Evyesev 18; Mazen Yagubi 18; Alex Ruiz 7; Nate Rose 3; Luca Namestnik 2; Owen Cuthbert 2.
For the Eden Flyers: Riley Stewart 20; Josiah Devries 14; Chad Thorpe 10; Calub Stewart 10; Ben Johnson 2. KJ Robinson 2.
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 3,900 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
