STORY BY JEANYLYN LOPEZ AND MIKHAIL HELLER
PHOTOS BY JEANYLYN LOPEZ
Sheridan’s mens basketball team are back-to-back champs after a one-point victory against the Algonquin Thunder Saturday night, in a tight game through all four quarters of the OCAA finals.
The crowd that filled the gymnasium rose to their feet, and with 1.8 seconds left on the clock Thunder’s Derrek Mooney tried to set a screen for Njuguna Waiganjo who was heavily defended by Bruins guard Trevor Williams. After the screen Mooney was left open for a three, but the shot hit the right side of the rim as the clock expired. Giving Sheridan their win 76-75 against a team that was undefeated in the regular OCAA season.
“I feel like I’m on top of the world. We did it two times so I feel real good, but I’m humbled. We’re trying to win nationals so this is just a stepping stone,” said Bruins big man Paul Williams.
Bruins star player Trevor Williams, who was also named OCAA tournament all-star, said “I’m so happy right now, so much work came into this. Our team, we work so hard every day, and it’s just been amazing.”
Leading scorer for the Bruins and OCAA tournament MVP Michael Selkridge showed his skill at both ends of the floor. Selkridge kept the Thunder forwards from getting easy points under the basket and continually hit back-to-back jumpers in the third. Selkridge had 18 points, he shot 8 of 14 on the night, he also had 9 rebounds.
“I told myself to keep a level head. Don’t get too high or don’t get too low, shots will come and go,” said Selkridge. “I came back in the second half starting to feel it, and I finally got my rhythm.”
Point guard Periana drove the ball into the Thunder’s wings, helping to facilitate the offence and spotting up from inside and outside the arc to get his jump shot to fall. When the Bruins needed a clutch basket, he was there to give the offense another blow. Periana had 17 points, shooting 6 for 16 on the field.
“I came out and put it all on the line,” said Periana. “It’s either we win or we lose and we go home. I have all the confidence in the world. So why not me?”
Head coach Jim Flack said, “You have to have guys that aren’t afraid to fail. If you have people who are afraid to fail you can’t win, you have to take shots and nobody faults them for that. If they go in they go in, if they don’t they don’t. That’s the nature of sports – high risk, high reward.”
Tension was high between the star players of both teams, Bruins’ Williams and Thunder’s Waiganjo. They exchanged comments after a foul call that brought Williams to the line in the first quarter. Williams was keen on giving Waiganjo a cut eye after he made each free throw.
Neither team was able to jump to a large lead, with a back and forth game in the first quarter. However, Algonquin led 26-23 at the end of the first after a deep three by Waiganjo.
In the second quarter the Thunder increased their lead by 10 after going on a 7-1 run against Double Blue. But Sheridan went on a 12-0 run of their own to take a 5 point lead. By the end of the second Bruins were up 48-44.
A technical foul against forward Roshean Keen in the third quarter spurred the Bruins team. The call was made after Keen shoved a small elbow to Thunder guard Garnet Blais. The Bruins were quick to talk to officials about the call, unfortunately the heightened emotion from Williams gave Sheridan another technical foul immediately after. Both technicals gave Waiganjo 3 of 4 shots made at the line.
Although Michael Selkridge shot 12 of Sheridan’s 18 points in the third quarter, Bruins were unable to increase their lead by more than one point by the end of the quarter, leading the Thunder 66-65.
Both teams continued to exchange leads on the scoreboard the whole night. They left no room for lacklustre defense and eventually Sheridan and Algonquin found themselves in the bonus situation in the final quarter.
It was a low-scoring fourth quarter for both teams with 10 points each. But Sheridan came out with the win at home after Mooney’s missed three.
Bruins defenders attacked the Thunder wings all night, running them off the three-point line, only allowing them to shoot 25 per cent on 8 of 32 from beyond the arc. Bruins did this despite Algonquin being the third best in the league from the three-point line, averaging 32 per cent in threes.
Big man Paul had 11 boards and 2 steals during the game. And Keen had 10 rebounds and 8 points. Williams contributed 9 points and 4 assists to the team.
Algonquin recorded an undefeated record of 20-0 in the regular season but could not come away with the victory down the stretch of the final round. Waiganjo led Algonquin in scoring with 33 points, shooting 9 of 21, and Derreck Mooney added 13 points and 4 rebounds to his team.
In an interview with an OCAA representative, Mooney said, “They were very tough on the boards, they played hard and give them credit. They played very well defensive wise, it was a tough loss.”
Coach Flack agreed that a bit of luck was needed to win finals. “Their best three-point shooter gets a look, perfect rotation on the ball and it catches the rim. If that ball is two inches to the left, right now, we’re crying and they’re celebrating. So it does, it requires luck,” said Flack.
Luck was on Sheridan’s side throughout the tournament. Double Blue won their quarter-final game against George Brown Huskies, 99-89 in overtime. And they beat Mohawk in their semi-final game 86-80, only a two-possession game against a team the Bruins haven’t beaten in the regular season.
“This was our last game and we want to go to B.C.. Last year we came up short. We talked to each other before the fourth quarter, we said we have 10 minutes to get where we want to get. To bring our coach and this school a national championship. We have three more games but we’re just excited right now,” Williams said.
But there’s still more work to do.
“We’ll take tonight off, and I kid you not, tomorrow we’ll be back at work looking at film, trying to break things down to figure out how we can be better. The guys we’ll give them off till Monday,” said Flack.
Bruins will head for the CCAA mens basketball national championship, March 12-15 at Quest University in British Columbia.
Check out live coverage and game recaps by reporters Jeanylyn Lopez and Mikhail Heller.
Complete tournament results at Sheridan Bruins.