The Mustangs are headed to OFSAA for first time in 37 years
The Holy Cross Hurricanes junior boys hoops squad also captures the school’s first COSSA crown
The Crestwood Mustangs senior boys and Holy Cross Hurricanes junior boys basketball teams made school history Friday.
The senior Mustangs punched their first trip to OFSAA in 37 years by winning the COSSA “AA” title on home court, blitzing Belleville’s Eastside Ravens, 82-47.
The Hurricanes captured the school’s first COSSA AA junior basketball title, defeating the Mustangs, 85-76, at Crestwood Secondary School.
The senior Mustangs last competed at OFSAA in 1987 and had made it their goal from the start of the season to get back there next Sunday to Tuesday in Ottawa.
They lost only two games all season, both to the COSSA “A” champion Kenner Rams. At the “AA” level, they were undefeated and dominated Eastside from the opening tip-off as they led 49-25 at halftime.
“I’ve coached some of these boys for six years now in the community as well,” said Crestwood coach Shawn Hughes. “We’ve been working toward this for a long time. We have seven players on this team who at one time played rep ball, although they don’t all play now.”
Once they reached the final, they weren’t going to be denied.
“They were really hustling on defence,” said Hughes. “Because we’ve been working toward this for a long time, the guys are in great shape and they can run the entire game. One thing we do well is we grind teams down.”
Hamza Arar led Crestwood with 20 points, while Kooper Rocher added 12.
Arar is one of seven Mustangs who have played together for the Peterborough Power and Time To Hoop programs growing up.
“The work we’ve put in since we were young, just working at it and working at, it’s great to see it pay off,” said Arar. “All the work we’ve put in and the chemistry we built up to the final. We played really well in the final and it was good to see.”
It’s been quite a year for Arar, who competed at OFSAA in volleyball in the fall and will also represent Crestwood at OFSAA soccer in the spring.
“I like to participate. It’s so important to the high school experience that students participate and experience the fun,” he said.
The Mustangs also defeated Prince Edward County, 88-47, in morning semifinals. Eastside defeated the St. Mary’s Thunder in the other semifinal. A final score was unavailable.
The junior Hurricanes ran off a perfect record in league play and were 19-2 overall with the two losses in the Kawartha Classic tournament.
“We’ve never won a COSSA junior title, we’ve done it at senior, so it was a pretty special day for these guys,” said Hurricanes coach Geoff McKinley.
“Crestwood has some really good athletes and good coaching, so we knew we’d be in a dogfight today. We really had to prepare. That was a really good basketball game today.”
“This is really big,” said Jaxon Hanley who had 21 points for Holy Cross. “This is the first time a Holy Cross junior team has ever won COSSA, so it’s a really big deal. I feel like we’ve set a goal for all the other junior teams in the future to push toward.”
Ben Dymond led Holy Cross with 26 points, while Brian Malloy added 10.
Charlie Dobbin topped Crestwood with 25 points, while Jackson Ledoux added 21 and Jake Anderson 10.
“I was really proud of our boys today,” said Crestwood coach Tyler Chambers.
“We kept it really close and kept them scared and worried the whole game. The shots just didn’t fall for us and they fell for Holy Cross. They were tough all season.”
The Hurricanes advanced to the final by defeating Bayside, 82-51, in the morning semifinals. Crestwood beat Eastside, 57-39, in the other semifinal.