Custis’ first stand too much for Redcoats
Take away the first five and half minutes of the game and the Governor Simcoe Redcoats would have given the Bernie Custis Tigers a decent battle in the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association AAA senior boys basketball semifinals at Notre Dame.
Unfortunately, the Redcoats couldn’t match the early defensive intensity of the Tigers and fell behind 17-0 on the way to a 59-37 defeat. To the Redcoats’ credit, they hung tough and were a missed three-pointer away from cutting the lead to a manageable 12 with five minutes left in the game.
“The level of intensity and the pressure was incredible,” Simcoe head coach Shaun Feor said. “They came out hard from the initial tip and some of the guys on our squad don’t have that big game experience. They came out with nerves and uncertainty and without the confidence we have been trying to install all year long.”
The Zone 4 champions played much better after the sluggish start and forced Bernie Custis to play their starters a lot more than what it looked like would be required early in the game.
“Through to the end of the year, we started putting in some different defences — more concept defences — and we threw a defence on them in the second quarter that gave us an opportunity to kind catch up,” Feor said. “Once the boys figured out that we could run with them, I think we had a better shot of hanging in there.”
Grade 11 point guard Matteo Martin did a much better job of handling the pressure after a shaky start.
“He is undersized and guys think they are going to take advantage of him but he’s a warrior on the floor,” Feor said. “He is one of our toughest guys and he is a guy who gained valuable big game experience this year for when we get back next year.”
One player who is definitely not undersized is 6-foot-8 Simcoe centre Deryk Burke, who scored six points in the game. Burke was impressed with the play of the Tigers.
“They were very good,” the Grade 12 player said. “All game long they had non-stop pressure on us. They double-teamed and trapped every time we got past half.”
Burke had a simple explanation for his slow start.
“I came in really rattled,” he said. “I was nervous and excited at the same time.”
Burke hasn’t decided yet if he will return for a 12B year and will miss it if he decides to leave.
“We are a family here,” he said. “We are all brothers and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to play my last four years with.”
Burke feels his game has improved this season.
“Before I was more of an outside shooter and this year I have added more of an inside component to my game,” he said, “I didn’t play that great today but that’s alright.”
STATS PACK
Tigers 59 Redcoats 37
Mick and Angelo’s/Johnny Rocco’s/Cracker Jack’s Player of the Game: Bernie Custis’ Ermir Haziri with 16 points.
For the Governor Simcoe Redcoats: Andrew Scott 6; Kambri Watson 6; Matteo Martin 6; Deryk Burke 6; Mitch McPherson 5; Hayden Zeppetella 4; Reza Changizian 2; Duncan Belliveau 2.
For the Bernie Custis Tigers: Haziri 16; Nathan Granger 15; Mohammed Abdalla 14.
THUNDER 67 GRYPHONS 44
The Zone 2 champion Blessed Trinity Thunder advanced to the SOSSA final with a 67-44 victory over the Zone 3 champion Greater Fort Erie Gryphons in the semifinals Thursday.
Top scorers for the Thunder were Noah Monteforte (18), Lucas Cino (18), Josh Enns (11) and Cole Arnold (10).
Leading scorers for Greater Fort Erie were Zach Tyrell (15), Kyle Barrett (14 ) and Avery Steinbach-Parker (9).
