Griffins off to OFSAA
TASSS edges St. Peter Saints 60-56 in COSSA senior boys AAA basketball championship game
It was too bad there had to be a loser in the COSSA senior boys AAA basketball final.
The Thomas A. Stewart Griffins and St. Peter Saints waged a classic back-and-forth battle down to the final seconds. The Griffins got some clutch shots down the stretch to pull out a 60-56 win at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School. They advance to OFSAA from March 6 to 8 in North Bay.
The junior Saints fared better than their senior counterparts beating the Centennial Chargers 68-47 in the final at St. Peter Secondary School.
Griffins coach Craig Muir was excited to see his team come through in the clutch.
“Our constant message to them was, as a team, you have to be able to execute when the pressure is on,” Muir said. “We haven’t been able to do it a lot this year but we were able to do it today.”
The lead see-sawed all through the game including in the final minutes. The Saints led by five with 3:30 left after a Ryan Moodie three-point shot. Dawson Deck hit three consecutive clutch shots and two free throws to put TASSS up 58-54.
“(Deck) is smart and he listens and he’s a coach’s dream,” Muir said. “He was brilliant today with clutch, clutch buckets down the stretch.”
Jacob Lukinuk scored to make it a two point game with nine seconds left and they fouled Ryan Simmons to send him to the free throw line. Simmons hit both shots to clinch the win. Deck led the Griffins with 16 points while Simmons had 14.
“They played tough,” Simmons said. “We fought like we can to win it .... This means a lot. I’ve been trying since Grade 9 to make it here. It’s been a lot of hard work. We’ve always been the underdog. We’re going to OFSAA and we’re really excited.”
Steve Ford led the Saints with 23 points while Lukinuk had 13.
“Both teams worked hard and fought hard right to the end, kind of what I expected,” said Saints coach David Shearer. “They made the plays they needed to. We had every chance o win we just couldn’t get a couple of stops we needed. That happens. All in all it was a good season.”
The Saints beat Quinte 53-35 in the semifinals led by Jack Dalliday’s 15 points. The Griffins defeated Prince Edward County 39-37.
In the junior final, St. Peter’s led by five at half-time but built it to 15 in the third quarter on their way to victory. Andy McGillis hit six three-pointers on his way to a game high 24 points while Andre Stevens had 19.
“We had the two players they couldn’t stop but when they overloaded on them the open people made them pay,” said Brent Claydon, who coaches the Saints with his wife Dyanne McDonald. “Everybody got into both games today for us and contributed.”
Claydon said his team got on a roll at the right time going 5-0 in playoffs.
“It’s been a lot of basketball in the last two weeks for them and a lot of success,” Claydon said. “It was fabulous to do it at home. St. Peter Saints' Jacob Lukinuk drives to the net between Thomas A. Stewart Griffins' Ryan Simmons, left, and Diego Alves during COSSA AAA basketball championship action on Friday at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School gym. See more photographs from the game in the online gallery at www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com. The boys took it to heart that this was their court and we wanted to make sure we won. We worked hard for it.”
The Saints beat Quinte 60-29 in the semifinals. Centennial knocked off TASSS by five points.