Redcoats roll into Tribune final

When the championship semifinal of the 64th Annual Welland Tribune Basketball Tournament between the Centennial Cougars and Governor Simcoe Redcoats ended Friday night, Mason MacEachern looked like he had been in a war.

“He was warrior today,” Simcoe coach Shaun Feor said. “I looked at him and he had blood on his shirt and his jaw was cut up and everything.

“That is who Mason is. You ask Mason to do something once and he does it.”

What MacEachern did Friday was score 13 points in a 60-37 victory, all the while tasked with the difficult assignment of trying to guard Centennial point guard Reese Radobenko.

“It’s so difficult because he is a really good player,” MacEachern said. “He’s really crafty and you have to be quick to keep up with him.”

The Grade 12 student’s play and a great effort by the rest of his teammates helped the Redcoats erase a 26-19 halftime deficit. Simcoe outscored Centennial 16-2 in the third quarter to build a 35-28 lead and then put the game away with a dominant fourth quarter.

“We came out in the second half with a lot more energy,” MacEachern said. “We fed off of that, it kept us going and we were able to come back.”

Simcoe’s second half Friday was in stark contrast to Thursday when the Redcoats almost blew a huge lead versus A.N. Myer.

“I don’t know what is going on with this gym,” Feor said. “Yesterday, we were up 20 at the half and they (Myer) came back and pretty much tied the game.

“Today we were behind at the half and we blew the doors off in the fourth quarter.”

Centennial was done in by the always unfriendly rims on the visitors’ side of the Notre Dame gym.

“I don’t know what it is but I was telling the boys that we were going to have to have a seance before the next game,” Feor said.

The rims were a factor, but so was Simcoe’s defence and hot shooting.

“We came out with more energy and more fire and a better focus on defence in the second half,” Feor said.

Governor Simcoe will make its first appearance in a Tribune final since 2010. That year, they lost 51-37 to Notre Dame.

“I played in three of them and we had Notre Dame in one or two of them,” Feor said. “It’s such a rich tradition and it brings back a lot of nostalgia and memories.”

MacEachern is excited to be playing in a Trib final for the first time in his career.

“It’s a really big deal because we haven’t been in a Trib final in a really long time. It means a lot to all the guys on the team to make it here. We worked hard for it.”

MacEachern said there was no secret to the Redcoats success.

“It’s our effort,” the Grade 12 student said. “We grind every day and we put all the work in.

Defending champion Centennial won’t get a chance to repeat as Tribune champions.

“I think we came out strong and I think the first half, especially the first quarter, was a more realistic version of what our team is,” Centennial coach Craig Maltais said. “We had a tough second half, but they played really tough defence and you have to give credit to them.”

The Cougars weren’t helped out at all by the aforementioned unkind rims at the visitors’ end of the gym.

“We were trying to take the ball to the hole and we didn’t get the bounces. Normally when shots are bouncing on the rim, one or two will go in.”

Centennial managed to score only two points in the third quarter.

“How often does that happen at this level, but our guys played hard,” Maltais said. “I think they fed off their defence which is something we try to do,” he said. “We have to look at what happened today and next time be on the other side.”

STATS PACK

Redcoats 60 Cougars 37

Mountainview Homes Players of the Game: Governor Simcoe’s Max Grant and Centennial’s Reese Radobenko.

For the Governor Simcoe Redcoats: Grant 16; Darren Johnston 13; Mason MacEachern 13; Cal Anderson 9; Mitch McPherson 7; Duncan Beliveau 2.

For the Centennial Cougars: Radobenko 16; Ryan Stark 9; Nick Yioldassis 8; Jack Halladay 2; Anthony Perna 2.

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