OBA U15 Day 2: Chris Egi Unleashed, Brampton Warriors Dominant
WINDSOR,ON–Following an entertaining first day at the U15 OBA Championships, the intensity certainly escalated as teams jocked for position in the pool standings. The storylines of the day had to be regarding the #1 Brampton Warriors who continued their dominance, along with 6’6 standout forward, Christopher Egi breaking out of his shell.
(1) Brampton Warriors(3) Mississauga Monarchs (2) Toronto Triple Threat(5) St. David Blues Loser G1 Loser G2 Winner G1 Winner G2
| Sunday – Playoffs | |||
| Semi-Finals (G1) – 9:00am | Semi-Finals (G2) – 10:30am | Bronze Medal – 1:00pm | Gold Medal – 2:30pm |
Brampton Warriors, the team to beat
An extremely successful 40-2 season naturally leads to a #1 ranking at provincials, combined with a target on the team’s back. The Brampton Warriors, led by Jalen Poyser, Matthew Trpcic and Rayshane Case added two more convincing victories to their resumes on day two.
The Warriors survived a scare in day one, stealing an overtime win over St David, 66-64; however, it was smooth sailing on day two. Brampton opened the day crushing #8-ranked Durham City 78-39, followed by a 68-35 thumping served to the Ottawa Guardsmen.
As for the close call against the St David Blues…Brampton Head Coach, Mark Poyser regarded his opponents with the utmost respect.
“They are an incredible team, they could easily have been number one; but we’re there, so we have to go out and play like we’re number one, it’s something that we’ve earned.”
The same admiration is carried toward the Durham team that Brampton easily defeated.
“Durham has my respect more than any team in Ontario. I respect that team because they’re coached very well and they beat us a month ago,” stated Coach Poyser.
The Brampton Warriors have now advanced to championship day where they will compete against the #3-ranked Mississauga Wolverines; a scrappy squad led by their crafty floor general, Kimbal Mackenzie.
2015 6’6 F Chris Egi Unleashes with a Big Bang
Chris Egi’s day two performance solidified him among the top Canadian prospects in 2015.
“We had a nice talk…he should be ready,” assistant coach, Jason Gairey told NPH in the pregame.
Egi was more than ready as he finally displayed what NPH had been waiting to see all tournament. This inside presence was a force as he carried with him a relentless energy, which was absent in his past two games.
“I definitely had to be more agressive because the first two games I got into early foul trouble and I let that get to me; I just had a conscious effort to attack the basket,” explained St David Blues big man.
Highlighting Egi’s performance was a monster two hand jam well above the rim, complimented with a few gorgeous hook shots and a constant burst of steam while running the floor.
It was clear that this sleeping giant simply needed an extra push from his inner circle in order to propel Egi to another level.
“The coaches did a really good job of getting me ready,” explained Egi.
Stay tuned for more on this standout tomorrow at championship day and NPH Player evaluations which will be released on Monday!
Mississauga Monarchs Head Coach, Nathan Blackburn on 66-47 victory over Etobicoke
“I wouldn’t say it was one of our better efforts defensively. However, we were more composed down at the end because we’ve been in those type of situations before, and that was the difference.
“Considering we had one of our worst shooting games probably of the year, the fact that we were able to prevail I would say is based on the team’s composure and their will to win.”
#2-Ranked Toronto Triple Threat featuring promising porspect, Brody Clarke
VISIT ONTARIO BASKETBALL FOR RESULTS AND FINAL SCORES!
