Saints ousted in third round of OFSAA

[attach]1376[/attach]Eastern Commerce Saints drive for back-to-back OFSAA basketball championships ended March 9 with a third round loss to the Vaughan Voyageurs.

The Saints, ranked fourth in the province, lost a closely contested battle with Vaughan 59-58 at Durham College, and heading into the fourth quarter the Saints were down 46-36 and stepped up their play scoring 22 points in the final eight minutes.

Still the tournament was not an entire loss as Eastern Commerce bested St. Anne Secondary School 67-40 in their second round game.

Throughout the game the Saints were in control, but in the second half they allowed a St. Anne come back.

Eastern Commerce had built up a commanding 18-point lead in the third quarter and saw it whittle away after St. Anne started hitting basket after basket. At the end of the quarter they managed to make it a respectable 12-point lead, 44-32.

But not all play was sportsmanlike, said Saints coach Kevin Jeffers.

“There was a little cheap stuff on both sides, which took the flow out of the game,” he said after the second round game. “We need to stay focused on our goal.”

In the fourth quarter, the Saints built a 53-34 lead and continued to pile on the points much to the dismay of the St. Anne.

Leading scorers for Eastern Commerce were Aaron Best with 16 and Cameron Robertson with 11.

Jeffers was quite pleased with both efforts.

“We knew we had to keep our starters fresh because once we get into the quarter-finals our bench players would need to see some quality minutes in a pressure game,” he said. “Those players came through for us today and allowed us to rest some of our starters.”

Jeffers was hoping he would have the luxury to use his bench at OFSAA because he felt those players need some high-pressure minutes.

“You don’t make it this far without a great supporting cast,” he said. “Those players showed a lot to the coaching staff today. They gave us a much needed lift especially in the second half.”