Murdaca leads Myer to SOSSA
With the end of his high school basketball career looming, Nick Murdaca left it all on the court Thursday and helped the A.N. Myer Marauders defeat the visiting Notre Dame Fighting Irish 68-57 in the Zone 3 AAA senior boys basketball final.
The Marauders now advance to the Southern Ontario Secondary School Associations playdowns Monday in Saltfleet.
“Going into this game, I was going to give it my all, hopefully get the result and we did,” the 18-year-old said.
The Grade 12 student scored 19 points, grabbed double-digit rebounds and drew a key charge late in the game to snuff out any chance of a Notre Dame comeback.
“I love taking charges and it’s my favourite part of the game,” the 6-foot-1 guard/forward said. “The momentum of getting those charges is a great feeling.”
It is a great feeling for Myer head coach Paul Grummett to have Murdaca on the floor for the Marauders.
“He’s our Energizer Bunny. He comes in and leaves it all on the court,” he said. “He sacrifices his body, he leads by example and he’s a pleasure to coach.”
Murdaca suffered a concussion in January in the championship game of the Niagara Falls Review Tournament and his return to the lineup was crucial for Myer.
“With him, we are a completely different team and our dynamic changes,” Grummett said. “We are able to attack knowing he is there to help us out.”
He agreed getting thumped by Saint Paul in the championship game of the review Tourney was an important part in the growth of his team.
“It was a very hurtful game, it woke us up and it was a reality check,” Grummett said. “It opened up our eyes and made us realize we need to be a little more serious and the commitment needed to be there.
“The guys responded well to it.”
Murdaca believes consistency and team chemistry helped the Marauders advance to SOSSA.
“We have always been a very consistent team throughout the year, always putting up good results against good teams,” he said. “The only tough game we had was against Saint Paul in the final of the Review tournament.”
The Marauders were able to move on quickly from the loss.
“At the beginning of the season, our coach told us that our goal was to win zone and all the stuff in the middle of the season was extra,” Murdaca said.
The zone final was supposed to be played Wednesday, but the threat of freezing rain saw the game cancelled. That didn’t stop the Marauders from going through an intense workout that paid dividends Thursday.
“We weren’t really expecting it (cancellation) so we came to practice and just thought we had another day to get ready for the game,” Murdaca said. “It was perfect for us because we went over a lot of stuff in that practice.”
A.N. Myer built quarter leads of 16-7, 30-18 and 43-38 before putting the game away in the final quarter. Notre Dame got to within 56-50 with 3:06 left on the clock but couldn’t get any closer.
“We didn’t play well to start with, dug ourselves a big hole and we used a lot of energy to get it back,” Irish head coach Mark Gallagher said. “I think we got it down to four, we ran out of gas a little bit and then we panicked.
“We got out of doing the things we wanted to do and they made shots in their own gym.”
The loss to Myer ended a rollercoaster season for the Irish.
“We intentionally had a difficult start to the season and then we picked things up in the middle of the year,” Gallagher said. “I think we lost all our momentum after the Tribune tournament win with the weather and the exam break.
“We really haven’t been in the gym more than two days in a row for almost a month and that showed today.”
It showed on the floor and on the scoreclock.
“We weren’t as sharp as we wanted to be and we missed shots that we normally make, but they played well in their own gym,” Gallagher said.
STATS PACK
Marauders 68 Fighting Irish 57
Mick and Angelo’s/Johnny Rocco’s Player of the Game: A.N. Myer’s Nick Murdaca with 19 points and double-digit rebounds.
For the A.N. Myer Marauders: Cormac McMahon 20; Murdaca 19; Adam Lamb 13; Caleb Kim 5; Noah Sharp 5; Jorge Rodriquez 5; Matt Garrett 1.
For the Notre Dame Fighting Irish: David Jones 20; Andrew Zezela 18; Shammar Campbell 10; Anthony Cimino 8; Nelson Collee 1.
SUPPORT US
On the right side of our web site, you will notice a yellow SUPPORT US button.
We are asking anyone who finds value in our work and is able to financially help us to click on the button and contribute whatever amount you feel is appropriate and can afford. There is no set amount. Any amount is appreciated.
The funds collected will be used to enhance and offset the expenses of running the web site.
