It was looking like Eastern Commerce was geared to yank that dangling Ontario boys high school basketball crown from the defending champion Pickering Trojans, but the latter - despite not getting a real grasp of the lead until the third quarter - still managed to turn in a 47-46 win. In doing so, the Ajax-based Trojans retain the quad-A title they won last year and proved to be the top high school basketball team in the province, while the Eastern Commerce Saints, who boast starring in an OFSAA gold medal game in eight of the last nine years, will have to take solace in the runner up post - again.
The Saints have two silvers and four gold medals since 2002, a record that no other high school in the province can compare to.
The Saints came out hot, controlled much of the first half and kept the Trojans' top player Devoe Joseph fairly quiet, but the Saints couldn't handle what the Trojans and their star player had in store for the second half of the game.
Despite the precision of Alex Hill, who hit four three-pointers in the game, or Tyler Murray, who showed some defensive proficiency in taking his man off the dribble and tallying 14 points, and not withstanding Marvin Binney defensive strength in containing Joseph to a tournament low 20 points, the Saints appeared somewhat awed as the Trojans poured it on in the last quarter.
The back-and-forth, drama-laden game came down to the wire with Pickering's Joseph sinking a basket - and the hearts of the Saints bench - in the dying seconds of the game to take the win.
But with just under six seconds remaining and with emotions running high - both on the court and in the stands - the Saints had a chance to execute a last-minute play that would have given them the win.
It was a drill the team had been practising all season - a pick play under the opposition's net - but the Saints couldn't capitalize.
"We ran that play all year, practiced those types of situations, and the ball hits the damn backboard," said Saints head coach Kevin Jeffers referring to the last ditch attempt for two points and the win.
Despite the loss, Jeffers, a coach with the senior program for seven years, is beyond pleased with his squad and feels that they have a lot to be proud of.
"They played their hearts out," he said.
"It's difficult because we've lost to one team all year and it was to them. But you know what? We didn't run and hide from them all year, we looked for them at every tournament we were in this year... We wanted to play them."
Most people, he said, don't really get how prestigious it is to make it to the provincial series' gold medal game.
"I am just happy to be a part of it all, just being at this level," Jeffers said. "People don't understand how tough it is to get here. And now I'm going to have to answer the question 'what happened?' and I feel like, 'what do you mean what happened?, we're number two in the province that's what happened... it's such a great accomplishment."
Joseph, one of the top prospects in the country, was held to 20 points in the game, a tournament low, while Murray racked up 14 for the home side Saints. Murray, who is one of just three players that will be leaving the team this year, will be attending Wagner University on a full athletic scholarship come September.
Trojans head coach Jim Barclay was happy to take the win, close as the game was.
"Bottom line, I don't think we played all that great. We didn't shoot well until near the end really," said the coach in his first year with Pickering.
"It was an ugly win, but a W is a W," he said.
Hill earned 12 points in the losing cause.