Cameron Heights repeats as WCSSAA senior boys’ champs
The Cameron Heights Golden Gaels have silenced their doubters.
Said Mohamed, Wani Ujullu Obang and Elvin Lei accounted for almost all the scoring, and Cameron Heights captured its second straight Waterloo County (WCSSAA) senior boys’ basketball championship on Tuesday night with a 68-48 win over the Bluevale Knights.
The Gaels outscored the Knights 18-5 in the final quarter to blow open a close game.
“It’s our last year of high school basketball, and we did it. We won back-to-back championships, and it feels great,” said Mohamed.
“It feels way better than last year because this year we felt like we had something to prove because other teams were doubting us, saying they could beat us, all that. We heard a lot from other teams, and it feels great to shut them up finally.”
Mohamed had a game-high 26 points, Ujullu Obang had 21 and Lei had 16.
The Gaels’ other starters, Fola Uthman and Grady Walsh, played almost the entire game and were strong defensively.
Cameron Heights finished the season with a 14-1 overall record, the only loss coming to the Forest Heights Trojans in the regular season.
Bluevale, which shocked Forest Heights in the semifinal round, finished with an 11-5 mark.
Kieren Kleisath paced the Bluevale attack in the WCSSAA final with 14 points, Liam Baechler had 13 and Jay Busch added 12.
Baechler scored 11 points in the second quarter and almost singlehandedly kept his team in the game after Cameron Heights pulled ahead 23-12. Baechler scored eight straight points to make it a threepoint contest.
Cameron Heights led 32-28 at halftime after Mohamed slammed home a dunk at the buzzer.
Both teams advance to the Central Western Ontario (CWOSSA) Triple-A championship on Friday and Saturday in Guelph.
The District 8 champion Resurrection Phoenix will also compete at the six-team CWOSSA tournament.
Cameron Heights goes into CWOSSA as an underdog, said Lei, but shouldn’t be taken lightly.
“Winning tonight feels amazing, but the job is not done because we also want to win CWOSSA,” he said.
“You have to say that Rez or Brantford (Collegiate) are the favourites there, but if we play with the type of defensive energy we had tonight, who knows.”
The coaching staff for Cameron Heights consists of Nazim Ramzan, Tim Weber, Ashley Yanchus and Chuder Teny.
Earlier, the Grand River Renegades captured the WCSSAA junior championship with a 42-41 win over the Laurel Heights Hurricanes. Both teams advance to the CWOSSA Triple-A junior tournament, along with Resurrection.
Also starting Friday, the Galt Ghosts and St. David Celtics will participate in the two-day CWOSSA Double-A senior boys’ basketball championship in Shelburne. The same two schools will compete at the junior championship.
The Père-René-de-Galinée Chevaliers and Woodland Cavaliers are in the CWOSSA single-A senior and junior tournaments at Woodland.
Volleyball
Resurrection, Cameron Heights and the Jacob Hespeler Hawks will participate in the CWOSSA Triple-A girls’ senior championship Friday at RIM Park.
The junior tournament, also Friday at RIM Park, includes the Monsignor Doyle Mustangs, Jacob Hespeler and Cameron Heights.
The Glenview Park Panthers and St. David Celtics are at the CWOSSA Double-A championship on Friday at St. David. The junior tournament features St. David and Glenview Park.
The CWOSSA single-A tournament is Thursday in Walkerton and features the Rockway Flames and Père-René in the senior event and Père-René in the junior tourney.
‘‘ It feels way better than last year because this year we felt like we had something to prove because other teams were doubting us.
SAID MOHAMED CAMERON HEIGHTS BASKETBALL P L AY E R