By William Bailey
It wouldn’t be March Madness without the upsets, and the hometown All Saints Avalanche pulled off just about the most unexpected win possible to tip off the OFSAA ‘AA’ boys’ basketball championships Monday morning in Barrhaven.
Seeded last of the 20 participating teams, the Avalanche toppled the #2 Holy Trinity Titants from Courtice 71-66 at St. Joseph Catholic High School to the delight of the All Saints supporters who made a short bus trip over from Kanata.
“Being the 20th seed was probably the best thing for these guys,” indicated Avalanche head coach Krista Wilson. “They came in thinking that they could only go up from here, given the low expectations. So, they were definitely allowing that to fuel them, and they proved that being the 20th seed is just a number.”
The Avalanche produced the key plays in the key moments down the stretch during a contest where the lead continually flip-flopped. All Saints held a narrow two-point lead at halftime, but a 9-0 Titans run to close the third quarter put the favourites up by four.
Avalanche guard Jordan Magembe came up with clutch baskets over and over to score many of his game-high 27 points at the best moments to propel the Avalanche ahead in the final minute.
“I saw that the defence was playing a zone, and quite heavy on one of my teammates,” recounted the past Ottawa Elite, Ottawa Next Level and West Ottawa Hornets club basketball player. “So, I decided to take advantage of what the defence was giving me and take it all the way to the basket.”
The #5 Ashbury Colts made it a perfect start for the local entries competing in the three-day tournament with a solid 73-67 win over the #15 Hon. W.C. Kennedy Clippers of Windsor at St. Mother Teresa High School.
Led by the aggressive slashing from forward Ryan Piche and the athletic pop of guard Emmett Pindar, the Colts strung together multiple impressive runs to build leads of five and 11 points at halftime and through three quarters.
But when it looked like the Colts had the win in the bag, Kennedy made a massive late push. Down 62-54 with just over three minutes to go, Clippers guard Jesse Moffat drained a trio of three-pointers off the bench to make it a one-point game in the final minute.
But a clutch three from the Colts’ Jalen Flindall – his biggest bucket of a game-high 22 points – followed by a clear path dunk from Piche off a turnover provided the dagger into the Clippers’ comeback attempt.
“We’re a resilient group,” underlined Colts forward Piche. “Even when the lead was slipping away down the stretch, we stuck with it and came up with some huge plays on both ends of the court. We earned this one.”
Both local teams earned Monday evening off with their wins as well as favourable matchups in the next round.
All Saints will have their turn to face Kennedy at 10 a.m. at St. Joe’s, while Ashbury meets #12 St. Joseph’s of St. Thomas at noon at St. Mother Teresa. The winners will advance to the championship quarter-final round Tuesday evening.
Béatrice-Desloges volleyball has best start out of Ottawa teams at OFSAAs
It’s a busy OFSAA sports schedule across Ontario this week, with Ottawa teams also getting action underway at other boys’ basketball and girls’ volleyball championships out of town.
Top-seeded Béatrice-Desloges won every set by at least 10 points en route to a perfect 3-0 start at the OFSAA ‘AA’ volleyball provincials in Sydenham. The Bulldogs beat Hamilton’s St. Mary (25-11, 25-10), Chelmsford’s Champlain (25-13, 25-11) and Cambridge’s Glenview Park (25-15, 25-14).
No. 11 Franco-Cité went 1-1 to open the ‘AAA’ championships in Markham with 17-25, 18-25 defeat to Whitby’s Sinclair and a 25-10, 25-6 trouncing of Belleville’s Bayside, while #15 Glebe is 0-2 after losses to Oakville Trafalgar and Kitchener’s Cameron Heights.
Maurice-Lapointe is 1-1 after the first day of competition at the OFSAA ‘A’ girls’ volleyball championships after a 7-25, 17-25 defeat to The York School and a 25-23, 25-17 win over Ursula Franklin.
Seeded third for the ‘A’ championships among the province’s smallest schools with 500 students or less in Welland, Notre-Dame dropped its opener 71-67, but rebounded with a 94-61 win to earn a date with top-seeded E.J. Lajeunesse of Windsor.
Glebe lost its opener at the ‘AAA’ championships for the largest schools with over 980 students in Stoney Creek 63-57, but the #13 seeds can still advance in the championship bracket when they take on #4 Dr. G.W. Williams of Aurora.
Gold & silver for local schools in OUA & OSBA basketball
Ottawa hoops teams flexed their muscles in several other competitions streams this past weekend.
The Carleton University Ravens women’s basketball team won its second Ontario championship in a row with a 63-55 home-court victory over Queen’s on Saturday night at the Ravens Nest.
The reigning national champions will play at the U Sports Final 8 from March 7-10 in Edmonton, while the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees were awarded a wildcard berth for the March 8-10 men’s nationals in Quebec City.
Ottawa teams earned silver medals on both the girls’ and boys’ sides from the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association championship weekend at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.
Capital Courts Academy lost 94-57 to repeat champion Crestwood, while Canada Topflight Academy went to double-overtime with Polaris before falling 95-92 in the boys’ Trillium Division final.
– with files from Dan Plouffe
~ SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM ~
We need your help to keep producing the local sports news you can’t find anywhere else!