Marauders advance to SOSSA
Jonas Kpanabom was a standout for the host A.N. Myer Marauders Wednesday as they defeated the Greater Fort Erie Gryphons 70-28 in the Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Zone 3 AAA senior boys basketball final.
“It was his work ethic,” Myer head coach Herdy Christian said. “He grabbed rebounds, had good hustle and he stayed in the game which is something we really needed out of him today.”
Christian loves the progress he has seen in Kpanabom this season.
“He is really coming along and had developed into a good player. He is very athletic and he just needs to hone in a little bit more on his development skills with his inside game.”
Defence has been a big part of Kpanabom’s game.
“He has a long, lanky body and he is able to deflect shots and get a lot of good rebounds for us. He is a good on-the-ball defender as well.”
The Grade 11 student, who scored 11 points Wednesday, has been happy with his first season of senior ball.
“Honestly it has been going really good,” the 6-foot-2 forward said. “I am mostly focused on my defence right now and I think I play a crucial role. I cut a lot this game and that is how I got most of my points and I also rebounded.”
Kpanabom knows playing good defence is crucial.
“My coach says that defence wins games and it is true. We did not allow them to get a lot of points this game. Last game we played them we allowed way too many points. I feel that I hold the defence together and anchor it.”
He feels he has made strides in his game this season.
“I am more aggressive now and more confident with the ball. It came from not over-thinking because I tend to over-think a lot.”
Christian was pleased with his team’s performance Wednesday.
“It was definitely a good game. We started off strong from the top and we finished strong and that’s what we want from our team.”
He is content with where his team is at heading to next week’s Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association playdowns at Eden.
“I like where we are at. From a mental standpoint, we are getting there and we are keeping our composure. We have really developed and improved throughout the season and I really like our chances.”
The secret to SOSSA success for the Marauders is to play strong defence, stay mentally strong and keep their composure.
“I think we have a good chance. I am pretty sure we are playing Saltfleet and they are a good team,” Kpanabom said. “We are going to have to work hard.”
Fort Erie head coach Dave Adamek felt the game didn’t go as planned.
“We had a game plan going in but we were missing two or our stronger guys. Nate Jones had his tonsils out last week so he was out of commission and Cade Tyrell wasn’t here,” he said. “We came out and wanted to play a little bit of a slower game but they came out flying. We didn’t want to get in a track meet with them but they got to a big lead right away. About halfway through it seemed like it was working out fine and we were slowing it down a little bit but they are a very good team. They are well-coached, athletic, they’re big and they were the much better team today.”
The Gryphons had an up and down season.
“We had some moments of glory throughout the year when we had a full roster. We played some good games but it’s tough when you are missing starting pieces and today we were missing three starters.”
During the regular season, the Gryphons lost 65-56 to Myer on Dec. 16.
Adamek is looking forward to next season. He expects to have two 12B players in the lineup and some talented players graduating from the junior program.
“If we can get a couple scoring options up from the junior team I am optimistic already for next year.”
STATS PACK
Marauders Gryphons 70 Gryphons 28
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Myer’s Jonas Kpanabom with 11 points and a strong game on defence.
For the A.N. Myer Marauders: Isaiah Cosaro-Oteng 15; Kpanabom 11; Ryker Cain 10; Noah Walters 9; Tanner Smith 9; Cole Taylor 5; Caleb Elysee 4; Joseph Yan 3; Nishan Thapa 2; Denis Duzgan 2. Also playing were Shahzada Haider, Niko Zapata and Suvan Gilotra.
For the Greater Fort Erie Gryphons: Aiden Storring 8; Harland Kelly 7; Jack Storring 6; Kaiden Hickens 4; Carter Lewis 3.
Up next: Myer advances to the SOSSA semifinals at Eden on Thursday, Feb. 20.
