UPlay & Monarchs Battle For Signature League Supremacy
The Signature League’s senior division season ended with a bang over the weekend, highlighted by a double header of UPlay Canada vs the Mississauga Monarchs.
Grade 11
The Grade 11 final was exhilarating from start to finish, with class of 2022 Ryan Nembhard as the main headliner for UPlay, while class of 2020 guard Justus Salmon led the way for the Monarchs.
The two guards had a back and forth battle to remember, with Nembhard tallying 15 points while showing off his playmaking ability that has made him such a treat to watch playing against older competition. Salmon finished with 20 points with a number of impressive tough shots in the paint, while showing off his range from deep as well.
Despite UPlay getting the 82-72 win, it might be Salmon that had the most to gain from this weekend, as a number of prep schools are sure to come calling over the summer for the Mississauga native.
Meanwhile, the Championship game MVP for the Monarchs was class of 2020 Dante Richards, who had some incredible finishes over much bigger defenders, while also continuing his high energy defence that led to a number of forced turnovers and buckets for the Monarchs. Richards finished with 20 in the game.
UPlay co-MVP honours went to Kordell Charles and Ridley College’s newest recruit Johnathon Avgousti. Charles has been on a number of high level division one scouting radars for some time now, and he showed why with thunderous slams, monster blocks, while showing off his shooting touch when he was left open, he finished with 14 points and 3 blocks. Avgousti couldn’t miss from the corners, hitting a number of big threes late that put UPlay up for good, he finished with 22 on the day.
Grade 12
The Monarchs were looking to get some revenge for their younger counterparts in the second final of the weekend against UPlay and managed to do just that.
Like the game before, it was a hotly contested contest until the final 3 minutes or so, when the Monarchs managed to get one final scoring run in before the final buzzer and got the 80-70 win and the Signature League grade 12 championship.
Josh Noton picked up MVP honours for the Monarchs, finishing with 14 points and a number of key steals late in the game. The 6’2 Noton has spent the last few seasons playing for the Lincoln Prep Huskies out of the OSBA, and after initially playing as a shooting guard, he has developed nicely into the floor general that the Monarchs needed him to be in this one.
Taryn Todd picked up MVP honours for UPlay, as the Vaughn guard finished with 20 points on the day, finishing in transition and knocking down some tough mid range jumpers with a hand in his face.
Other Notable Standouts
Tyler Delevante earned grade 11 league MVP honours for the duration of the session. The class of 2020 player ran the floor well, could always be seen boxing out a man when shots went up, and was a major scoring factor in every game he played.
Vladimir Lukomski scored 24 points for the Monarchs in the grade 12 finals. The 2019 guard had some nifty finishes at the rim, while knocking down some huge three’s for his club late in the game to help seal the championship.
Class of 2020 Keon Simmons showed some great athleticism, snatching away multiple cross court passes for the Monarchs that would have surely led to easy points. Simmons also showed a great shooting touch from the corners, even with guards closing him out.
Armene Fazilapour from YSSK had a very strong showing with a number of hustle and heart plays under the basket that managed to help his Knights stay in every game they were apart of.
Isaiah Bell of 21 Hoops had a number of solid games from behind the arc all weekend. The class of 2020 guard has an even demeanor, while showing an ability to heat up quick when his shots start falling.
Keyon George of Top Notch Elite had a number of strong finishes under the rim with a few and ones, while showing off a bit of range as well all weekend.
