Churchill is Standard Top Dog

In every Standard tournament, there is a moment when a player cements his status as MVP of the prestigious event.

For Churchill’s Mazen Yagubi, that moment came with 4:30 left in the third quarter of the championship game of the 59th Annual Standard Kully’s Boys High School Basketball Tournament Friday at St. Catharines Collegiate.

Trailing the Eden Flyers 27-24, Yagubi made a driving layup to cut the lead to 27-26. After the Flyers responded with a basket, he made a perfect pass to set up a game-tying three. Following an Eden bucket, Yagubi hit back-to-back treys to give the Bulldogs a 35-31 lead. Eden cut the lead to 35-34 with a three of its own but Yagubi responded with another three and a defensive rebound on Eden’s next possession, and Churchill would never trail again. The Grade 12 player would finish with a game-high 26 points to power his team to a 51-43 victory.

“I think he is one of the best basketball players in Ontario an arguably the best in Niagara and I know where my bread is buttered,” Churchill head coach Martin Cook said. “I need my best players to be my best players and tonight they were. They took over and that is why we won at the end.”

It is a night that will live in Yagubi’s memory forever.

“We haven’t won this tournament in 54 years and to start a new legacy after so many years is amazing. Hopefully it starts a new era for Sir Winston Churchill basketball that we want to represent.”

Because of the pandemic, it was the first time Yagubi and his teammates got to play in a Standard tourney.

“It makes it a lot more special.”

He had never played or been a spectator on championship night.

“I call the fans that came out from our school the Bulldog Family,” Yagubi said. “They kept us in the game when we were struggling at the start. We just couldn’t disappoint them or Sir Winston as a whole so we came out strong in the second half.”

No one was stronger in the second half than Yagubi, who plays his travel ball with Newman Youth in Stoney Creek.

“My team trusts me in what I do. I am there to create for my teammates and make the best play,” he said. “At that point, the best play was for me to take over because we were all struggling as a whole. In order for us to win, I needed to get my shot going.”

The Flyers gave the top-seeded Bulldogs all they could handle, leading 12-6 after one quarter and 26-22 at the half before Yagubi caught fire.

“These guys were awesome tonight,” Eden head coach Jonathon Thorpe said. “Every single guy who is on our team put everything they had into the game. We came up a little bit short but man what an effort from every single guy that was on the court and on the bench too. The energy from the bench was awesome.”

What made the Flyers’ effort even more remarkable is that two of Eden’s key starters were unable to be at the game because of travel team commitments.

“As a team we had a meeting and it is all good,” Thorpe said. “The guys were ready and loaded to go today and I am proud of the guys who were here and how they played.”

Eden’s play in the tournament has opened a lot of eyes about how good the Flyers are on the basketball court.

“It is a solid team. We surprised some people but maybe we won’t be able to do that any more,” Thorpe said. “We have unveiled that this team is for real.”

It is a team with high expectations.

“I am very excited. This is our second tournament and we won the first one we were in. We have another big one coming up in Waterloo next weekend,” Thorpe said. “We sat down at the beginning of the season and talked about our goals. I am not going to let you in on those but the guys have some big goals and are putting in the work to reach those goals.”

Cook was impressed with how Eden played.

“Wow. That was a slugfest. They were incredible. They battled right from the get-go and came out shooting hot,” he said. “They clogged the paint and gave us nothing easy. They were physical and I give them top marks. That was an amazing game.”

Cook was thrilled to end the school’s 54-year Standard tournament championship drought.

“Even just coaching in this tournament and being a part of it was exciting. A few years ago I don’t know if I would have predicted we would win it for Churchill,” he said. “I always thought that would be the goal but it is amazing when you think of the history of the tournament itself. I am not going to be able to process this one for a while.”

Cook agreed the buzz of a Standard championship night is like none other.

“They all knew the magnitude of the night. It is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them and I am really proud of them.”

Like Eden, the Bulldogs are only at the start of what they hope will be a long run in the spring.

“We are nine games in, we have a long way to go and we still need to work a lot of things,” Cook said. “We are in the Tribune tournament in a couple of weeks and we are hoping to get in another tournament and then make an OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) run.”

Joining Yagubi on the first all-star team were: Thorold’s Isaac Walker who led his team to the consolation title by leading the tournament in scoring with 18.3 points per game, including 19 in the consolation final; Eden’s Luke Johnson who averaged 8.5 points a game in the tournament and netted a team-high 13 points in the final; Eden’s Chad Thorpe, who averaged 14.8 points a game in the tournament and scored 11 points in the final; and, Churchill’s Brady Pupek, who averaged 10.3 points a game in the tournament, including eight points in the championship game.

Named to the tournament’s second all-star team were: St. Francis’ Anthony Heyes who averaged 15 points a game to help his team reach the championship semifinals; E.L. Crossley’s Samuel Jeffery who also who averaged 15 points a game to help his team reach the championship semifinals; Eden’s Luke Midgley, who scored five points in the championship game; Churchill’s Bennett Pisek, who averaged 7.5 points a game in the tournament and netted eight points in the final; and, Holy Cross’ Lucas Muon who averaged 10.3 points per game in the tournament and helped his team reach the consolation finals.

STATS PACK

Bulldogs 51 Flyers 43

Kully’s/Regatta Sports Players of the Game: Churchill’s Mazen Yagubi and Eden’s Chad Thorpe.

For the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs: Yagubi 26; Brady Pupek 8; Bennett Pisek 8; Mujeeb Omar 6; Matteo Scaglione 3.

For the Eden Flyers: Luke Johnson 13; Thorpe 11; Edson Sanecki 6; Dylan Durlov 5; Luke Midgley 5; Graham Midgley 2; Kai Schatz 1.