Grant Mullins Brilliant as Burlington Skyhawks Soar Above Barrie, Earning Waterloo Championship
NPH TOP Performers
Burlinton Skyhawks
- Grant Mullins – 17 points (MVP)
- Elliot Ormond – 16 points
- Trevor Thompson – 14 points
Barrie Royals
- Jake Clendenning – 19 points
- Thomas Chalmers – 11 points
WATERLOO, ON–By this time in the year everyone must have heard or read the name Grant Mullins. Mullins will be attending Columbia University next year in the Ivy League of the NCAA.
In the meantime, he’s going to put a hurting on every opponent that steps in his way. After coming short in a tournament final a few weeks ago he and the Burlington Skyhawks soared west to Waterloo to avenge their loss. They feasted on the Barrie Royals and took their first chamionship of the OBA season with a 81-51 win at the Waterloo Wildhawks tournament.
The Royals were worthy of being in this championship game from their prior performances, but just couldnt manage to find the basket in this one. They were outscored 22-2 in the first seven minutes of play. Several timeouts were called to reassemble and try to slow down the machines from Burlington, but their shot factory stayed open all night.
Scoring opportunities for the Skyhawks came from their tenacious on ball defending. Coach Wade Currie explains the defensive strategy.
“Defensively we just wanted to keep the tempo up…we were showing a zone but playing a man, to make sure the tempo was high so we could run”.
It was noted that Mullins only missed one shot in the first half and fed a tonne of assists to teammates Trevor Thompson and Deontay Scott who ran the lanes for him. Mullins finished with a team-high 17 in the blowout victory, spreading the love around with every player on the roster getting on the board.
Matt Plunkett, who had been one of the leaders for the Royals all tournament had taken a fall midway through the game and would not make a return.
This would allow Thompson to continue slashing the lanes and dominating the rebounding category. Thompson’s greatest improvements since last seeing him in a Nelson uniform come in his guard skills. He’s been putting in hours in the gym and it shows in his ball handling and increased mobility.
As a Dalhousie commit, he is looking forward to transitioning into a shooting guard/small forward. For now he enjoys his first OBA tournament championship with the Burlington Skyhawks.
