Flyers finish in top eight in Ontario AAA basketball
The Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association champion Eden Flyers senior boys basketball team made it to the quarter-finals of the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations AAA tournament in Sarnia before dropping a 75-66 decision to second-seeded Ursuline College from Chatham.
“Finishing our season as a top eight team in the province and losing to the OFSAA silver medalists clearly indicates that we were playing basketball at an elite level,” Eden head coach Jonathon Thorpe said.
The seventh-seeded Flyers advanced to the quarter-finals by defeating 13th-seeded Lo-Ellen Park from Sudbury 60-45 and 10th-seeded St John Henry Newman from Hamilton 58-40.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the way these guys played this week. It was just awesome to end our season playing the way we did despite not getting the outcome we were looking for,” Thorpe said. “Everyone stepped up 1 through 15 and played the role we needed them to play.”
He enjoyed his team’s season immensely.
“I’m just thankful for the opportunity to coach these guys. We had such a successful season and I had a blast. I’m going to miss our graduating players but we are still going to have plenty of great players back next year and we are hoping for another fantastic run.”
Top performers for Eden against Lo-Ellen Park were: Chad Thorpe with 19 points, four assists, four steals and two blocked shots; Riley Stewart with 15 points; Luke Johnson with nine points; Caleb Stewart with eight points and nine rebounds; Dylan Durlov with four points; Edson Sanecki with three points; and, Kai Schatz with two points.
Leading the way for the Flyers against St John Henry Newman were: Riley Stewart with 26 points and two blocked shots; Caleb Stewart with 19 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots; Thorpe with six points, three assists and three steals; Johnson with five points; Sanecki with two points; and, Luke Midgley with three assists and two blocked shots.
In the quarter-final loss to Ursuline College, topping the stat sheet for Eden were: Caleb Stewart with 24 points, seven boards and two blocked shots; Thorpe with 19 points, four assists and four steals; Riley Stewart with seven points; Johnson with seven points; Midgley with seven points and seven rebounds; Sanecki with two points; and, Schatz with a pair of blocked shots.
