INCREDIBLE WEEKEND FOR HAWKS BASKETBALL ENDS WITH TOUGH LOSS
Humber Basketball announced their return to prominence this weekend despite the Men's Basketball Team falling in an incredibly hard-fought OCAA Championship against Mohawk.
The Hawks Silver Medal comes on the heels of the Women's Team capturing Gold on Saturday night, and both teams will be off to Nationals in a week's time. Humber came into Sunday night having swept the season series against the Mountaineers and with the unenviable task of attempting to make it three in a row against a formidable Mohawk squad.
In the early going Mohawk went to a zone and slowed Humber's normally crisp ball movement. Matt Savel, in what was a sign of things to come, drained a couple of deep jumpers as the Mountaineers jumped out to a 9-0 lead. The Hawks weren't having the same luck from the perimeter, so Kenny Ejim hit the glass for an offensive board and bucket to trim the lead to five.
Despite staying tight on Savel, his second triple of the quarter again extended the lead to nine. The blue and gold finally got the ball humming as they so often do, resulting in a Curwin Elvis long ball and a trip to the stripe for Chad Bewley. The last few minutes of the quarter saw momentum shift Humber's way for a much needed spurt. Brayden Gohn connected from downtown and shortly thereafter a Dickson rebounded resulted in two freebies. After ten, Humber trailed 19-14.
The second frame opened with some back-and-forth play, and the sequence of the half came from Ejim on the fast break. Racing down the right wing, he finished in Mohawk's grill with the foul sending the blue and gold's supporters into a frenzy. Picking up where he left off yesterday, Junior Davis then nailed a triple from the left corner and appeared to get hacked without a call.
Mohawk's hot shooting from the outside continued to keep Humber at a distance, as a Jeff Hunt long ball extended the advantage to seven. The Moutaineers continued to get the benefit of the whistle, as Ty Dickson got mugged in the paint without a call. Savel continued his unbelievable run from outside, as another triple from the diminutive guard stretched the advantage to double digits. Ending the quarter on a 13-3 run, another Savel pull-up put the first twenty to bed with Humber trailing 44-31.
Ejim opened the third attacking the basket and his pull up jumper got the half started strong. Humber continued to get to the rim but was having problems finishing their drives. Mohawk pushed the lead to sixteen, but as he has all year Gibson Eduful stepped up and hit a big three from the corner. Unfortunately for Humber, Savel was having a night where the basket must have looked as big as the ocean, and yet another three splashed to stretch the lead again. With time running low in the third the Hawks would go on a nice little 5-0 run only to have Matt Fennell have a pull up three bank in with seconds remaining. Headed to the fourth, the blue and gold trailed 63-46.
The Hawks would make a couple of nice runs in the fourth to slice the lead as low as seven, and fought until the bitter end. Davis splashed in some huge shots and Eduful was an absolute beast on the perimeter defensively, but it was just a little bit too late. At the final buzzer the score read 84-74, and Mohawk were crowned Provincial Champs.
Junior Davis was named Player of the Game, finishing with twenty points, including five threes in his second consecutive heroic effort. Davis, along with Tyrone Dickson, were named to the All-Tournament team.
Despite falling just short, this has been a resilient, talented, head strong bunch and you can be sure they will bounce back in a couple weeks at Nationals. The rest of the country should be wary of this squad and the hunger they will head to Hamilton with; see you in the Hammer.
