Golden Eagles, Storm advance in consolation bracket
It took overtime for the Thorold Golden Eagles to defeat the Westlane Spartans 62-56 in consolation quarter-final action Tuesday at the 49th Annual Standard Kully’s Boys High School Basketball Tournament.
The Eagles and Spartans were tied 51-51 after regulation following a last-second bucket by the Spartans to send to game into OT.
“This is a game both teams are going to remember for a long time,” Thorold coach Marc Dupont said. “They hit a buzzer-beater to tie the game and for us to get the win in overtime, everyone on the floor played their hearts out.
“If you’ve been around the game a long time you start to realize it’s not just about your team, it’s about the community.”
The Golden Eagles trailed 41-32 heading into the fourth quarter when Isaac Walker went to work. Walker led all scorers with 36 points.
“What can you can about Isaac? He was our go-to guy and they couldn’t stop him,” Dupont said. “We kept giving him the ball and he kept putting it in. He’s the guy that got us over the top in this game. I’m so proud of him and the rest of the guys.
“From our perspective we didn’t have our best game early on but they didn’t quit, they didn’t get frustrated, they kept working hard and getting on the boards.”
Westlane coach Sean Hilliker enjoyed being part of the tournament.
“Westlane has not been in The Standard Tournament for many years,” he said. “I wanted to give these kids an opportunity to see what the best basketball in the area looks like. We’re really happy to be here.
“The kids gave it a great effort. We just try to improve every day. We don’t have a ton of players who have played senior before so this is a great experience for us.”
For the Thorold Golden Eagles: Isaac Walker 36; Nathan Miller 8; Hunter Fluellon 7; Spencer Fluellon 6; Nick Wuhlar 4; Ryan Kelly 1.
For the Westlane Spartans: Marko Niezurawski 18; Dylan Klassen 15; Tegbir Gill 8; Strahinja Suzic 8; Arvan Sharma 3; Alex Darbyson 2; Joevince Quanico 2.
The Kully’s/Regatta Sport Players of the Game were Walker and Niezurawski.
STORM 51 COUGARS 40
Jeremy Talsma poured in 17 points to lead the Smithville Christian Storm past the Centennial Cougars in consolation quarter-final action.
Also scoring for the Storm were: Silas Breukelman 11; Matthew Mafa 9; Joseph Attia 6; Levi Dekker 6; Yichen Wu 2.
Scoring for the Cougars were: Timi Ijaodola 14; Alex Bray 11; Joel McDede 10; Colbey DesRoches 2; Elliot Slack 2; Matt Miller 1.
The Kully’s/Regatta Sport Players of the Game were Talsma and Ijaodola.
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