OBA U15 Championship Sunday: Case Closed– 5’11 G Rayshane Case helps lead Brampton to Glory
FOLLOW TARIQ SBIET ON TWITTER @TSBIET & NPH @NORTHPOLEHOOPS
WINDSOR, ON–OBA Championship Sunday in Windsor, Ontario was a collection of the province’s finest club team in the U15 age level. After two days of filtering out the cream of the crop, the final four teams to proceed were #1 Brampton Warriors, #2 Toronto Triple Threat, #3 Mississauga Monarchs, and #5 St David Blues.
St David Blues Capture Bronze Medal
The Blues were the biggest team in the tournament featuring standout 2015 prospects, 6’6 F Christopher Egi and 6’5 SG Davonte Campbell and the squad was ranked as the #5 seed entering Windsor, Ontario.
However, St David were not concerned with rankings and had only one thing on their minds, ultimately to win gold. Yet, it was not meant to be as the Blues were on a crash course with #2 triple threat in the semi-final game. The team faught hard but were overmatched by a speedy, athletic group of guards that featured 6’1 G Dewan Williams and 6’0 G Russell Baker in addition to their 6’6 inside presence of Brody Clarke.
Although losing to Triple threat in the semi-final game, St. David Blues rebounded well and took care of business against the #3 Mississauga Monarchs to earn OBA hardware and claim the bronze medal.
“We came out here hard, unfortunately we didn’t win it all but we’re coming next year,” said Campbell.
After a performance that matched last year’s results, Chris Egi and the team look forward to further upgrading their skill set.
“Last year we came third and this year we came third, so what he have to focus on now is improving in the off season. Personally, I think I have to work on more ball handling and decision making,” explained Egi.
What the Blues program has in store next season is to be determined, however St. David will now take their talent on to the AAU circuit to compete with the elite talent in North America.
Brampton Warriors Claim the Gold: Case Closed
Throughout the enitre U15 Ontario Cup, the #1-ranked Brampton Warriors had various sources of production, leading to a balanced dynamic attack. On championship day, it was 5’11 G Rayshane Case and 6’0 G Ty Stewart-Nelson that carried the load for the Warriors.
In their semi-final match up against the #3 Mississaga Monarchs, it was Case who had an outstanding performance, scoring the ball and providing his intense defense throughout the game. In addition, Case was clutch down the stretch, knocking down a mid-range pull up jumper with 20 seconds left on the clock, ultimately putting the game to bed.
“I knew we had to get a bucket and I work on that shot all the time in practice, the pull up from mid-range with a hand in your face, it’s practice,” Case confidently explained.
In the championship finals against #2 Toronto Triple Threat, it was Ty Stewart-Nelson who was solid all tournament, and really brought his level of play up when it mattered.
With the Brampton Warriors as defending champs, the experience played a key factor in terms of composure and game control.
“We’re defending champs, this is where you see where you’re ranked and see if you can hold down the number one spot again,” professed Stewart-Nelson.
“It’s about motivation. Our coach motivated us and said go out there and put in work but have fun. Remember, we’re the number one team, they don’t know what it’s like to win yet.”
The Brampton Warrior program enjoyed an extremely successful OBA run as they also claimed the OBA U16 championships, which were held in Mississauga, Ontario the same weekend.
Ty Stewart-Nelson continued, “We won last year, so we had to defend it; we know what it feels like.”
PHOTO COURTESY: Ontario Basketball
