Players Ejected, D’Youville Advances to Silver Fox Semi-Finals with Five Players
In my eight years covering Canadian high school basketball, I have never seen something like what I’m about to try to explain.
Let me set the scene…
The Lead Up
It’s late in the end the third quarter and players from D’Youville and Jean De Brebeuf (Hamilton) are tied up in a jump ball.
The game’s intensity is at a high level and neither player is giving an inch.
This is everything you could ask for as a basketball enthusiast – two quality teams battling hard for a chance to make it to the #SilverFox semi-finals.
A foul was charged, instead of what I thought was an easy jump ball call.
Both players are still gripping the ball tightly and not letting go. Before you knew it, multple players jumped in to join the tug of war from both sides.
However, D’Youville seemingly cleared their bench to join the crowded floor. A couple players from Brebeuf were also in the mix.
The refs allowed a simple jump ball call escalate into unnecessary tension, all while standing by watching.
NOTE: To be clear, I’m not endorsing players leaving their benches whatsoever, however refs must do a better job of controlling games, and not hesitate
The Aftermath
As a result of the chaos mentioned above, the game was paused for a good 10 minutes prior to coming to a verdict.
The referees decided to eject the entire DYouville team except for the five players that were originally on the floor.
Also ejected were two players from Brebeuf.
The players involved with the initial grapple were interestingly not penalized.
“One referee made one decision, and the other referee made the other deicison…they need to make it together,” DY Head Coach Carlo Zoffraneri told North Pole Hoops.
D’Youville Advances with Five Players
The D’Youville Panthers ultimately defeated Jean De Brebeuf, 65-51 despite being with only five players for the entire fourth quarter.
“We talk about team, we talk about coming together, being tough. I thought we exhibited it, and did so throughout most of the game,” said Zoffraneri.
The ejected players sat in the changeroom throughout the final quarter, while receiving updates from DYouville’s video manager over the phone.
It looked like this D-Y group definitely grew through this wild experience.
Coach Zoffraneri spoke about the mood in the locker room after the win, “They were happy, I was happy…when you’re left with five guys, one guy has four fouls and your guys step up to execute without two starters…I was pleased.”
On the other side, Brebeuf made some noise throughout the tournament and proved to be able to compete with some of the best teams in the country. They are well coached, tough and play with high energy…lead by a fundamentally sound point guard in J.R Calura.
#7-Ranked D’Youville will now take on #11 Pine Ridge in the Silver Fox championship semi-finals.
Saltfleet Defeats MacNab in Local Battle
Host team Saltfleet (NPH #15-ranked) defeated #19 MacNab, advancing to the semi-finals against #17 St Marys. Woods Brown and Nick Pett lead the way, and have been consistent producers.
Saltfleet plays a good team game with ball movement, however an interesting indvidual match up will be between Nikola Djogo and Tesloth Simon in contrasting styles. Djogo is a passive facilitator, while Simon is a cold-blooded scorer.
Follow the action live on twitter at @Tariq_NPH and @NorthPoleHoops
Silver Fox Results (Day 2)
St. Patrick’s (Sarnia) 55 St. Francis (St. Catharines) 66
Jay McAuley 16 Abu Kigab 30
Centennial (Belleville) 44 Holy Trinity (Oakville) 86
Raheem Silcott 13 Ezeoha Santiago 21
West Humber (Etobicoke) 60 St. Marguerite D’Youville (Brampton) 92
Fananov Dafinise 17 Damiann Prehay 19
Oak Park (Winnipeg) 77 Pine Ridge (Pickering) 84 – (Q Final)
William Kohler 23 Chase Vassell 30
St. Patrick (Ottawa) 59 Thornlea (Thornhill) 66
Mike Soy 22 Darius Thorne 17
Saltfleet (Stoney Creek) 55 Sir Allan MacNab (Hamilton) 46 – (Q Final)
Nick Pett 12 Shai Alexander 13
Bishop Reding (Milton) 74 Centennial (Belleville) 30
Xavier Ochu 20 Zack Mullins 13
Oakwood (Toronto) 28 Holy Trinity (Oakville) 38
Calvin Epistola 6 Chris Hawkins 14
West Humber (Etobicoke) 68 Corpus Christi (Burlington) 52
Tyvell Peters20 Simisola Shittu 25
St. Patrick’s (Sarnia) 73 Cathedral (Hamilton) 82
Karol Derech 20 Kareem Samuel 27
St. Jean de Brebeuf (Hamilton) 00 St. Marguerite D’Youville (Brampton) 00 – (Q Final)
Mike Soy 22 Darius Thorne 17
St. Mary’s (Kitchener) 70 St. Francis (St. Catharines) 61 – (Q Final)
Tesloth Simon 30 Abu Kigab 22
Cardinal Newman (Stoney Creek) 53 Thornlea (Thornhill) 44
Tyler Brown 23 Dre McIntosh 12
St. Patrick (Ottawa) 59 Westdale (Hamilton) 49
Rona Aya and Adhal Bwolo 8 Greg Gordon 18
Schedule
Saturday morning (Jan. 31) games
9:00 Cardinal Newman (Stoney Creek) vs. West Humber (Etobicoke) @ Glendale
9:00 Cathedral (Hamilton) vs. Holy Trinity (Oakville) @ Saltfleet
10:30 St. Jean de Brebeuf (Hamilton) vs. Oak Park (Winnipeg) @ Glendale
10:30 St. Francis (St. Catharines) vs. Sir Allan MacNab (Hamilton) @ Saltfleet
Noon St. Marguerite D’Youville (Brampton) vs. Pine Ridge (Pickering) @ Glendale – Semi final
Noon St. Mary’s (Kitchener) vs. Saltfleet (Stoney Creek) @ Saltfleet – Semi final
