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Scarborough Blues, The Road to Gold

Published by Tariq on June 2, 2009

Scarborough Blues, The Road to Gold

After underachieving during the regular season, the Scarborough Blues U19 squad came into the Ontario Basketball championships ranked as the # 8 seed.

Game 1
Nevertheless, the Blues went on to defeat London Orion 85-67 in their opening match despite being under-manned and playing with only 5 players due to Mother Teresa’s prom the night before. Christian King, Cory Joseph, Norman Penola, Brandon Sam-Hinton and Troy Joseph. Were the five that suited up for Scarborough.
Joe Rocca and Pete Schultes paced London, chipping in 23 and 21 respectively. For the Blues, it was no other than #2 ranked point guard in North America, Cory Joseph who exploded for a much needed 34 points. Troy Joseph and Brandon Sam-Hinton also had solid contribution with 17 and 14.

Game 2
In what you could call a hangover game at 8:00 AM, the Blues suffered a defeat in the hands of Toronto Five-O and Matthew Wright, who scored a game high 26. For the Blues, it was Cory Joseph, with 22 and “Big Mo” Maurice Walker with 19.

Game 3
Facing the #1 seeded Blessed Sacrament out of Hamilton, Ontario, The Blues were unable to put the game to bed after leading by 5 at halftime. Blessed Sacrament ended up winning with strong performances from guards Brady Heslip (20 points) and Clinton Springer. (27 points) Top scorer for Scarb. Was Maurice walker with 24.
With Coach Bob Clement and the rest of the staff ready to pack it up for the Blues, they were informed that London Orion had beaten Toronto Five-O; meaning Scarborough would advance due to a better plus-minus thanks to the Five-man onslaught in game 1, winning by 18.

Back Row Standing L-R Coach David Joseph, Coach Craig Walker, Cory Joseph, Maurice Walker, Troy Joseph, Brandon Sam-Hinton, Ancil Martin, Coach Bob Clement Kneeling L-R Christian King, Kadeem Knott, Ryan Augustine, Norman Penola, Ashton Khan Tremayne McKay (missing)

Playoffs
Blues went on to defeat #4 seed Hamilton U-play behind usual suspect Maurice Walker and Cory Joseph scoring 18 and 17. For U-Play, it was Greg Edelsward and Duane Harvey who kept the game respectable, recording 13 and 12 points.

Semi-Final
Things got interesting in the Semi’s as the Blues were forced to play the #1 seed, Blessed Sacrament. But Cory Joseph and the Blues were up to the challenge as Joseph completely shut down sharp shooting Brady Heslip, (University of Guelph commit) leaving him scoreless. If that wasn’t enough, Joseph also won the game for the Blues scoring the last shot in OT to make it 64-62. Anchoring the offense this game was point guard Ashton Khan as he netted 26 big ones in the victory.

Final
In the finals, Scarborough Blues found themselves at yet another disadvantage as they had to overcome the hometown Waterloo Wild Hawks and their passionate fans. It was another tight game from beginning to end as the unfair point guard duo of Ashton Khan and Cory Joseph went to work for the Blues, scoring 23 a piece. For waterloo, it was Bryson Johnson leading with a game-high 24.
With the Blues holding on to a one point, 76-75 lead and 8.6 seconds left in the game, they needed one more stop for the win and the championship! Right on cue, Norman Penola stripped the ball from a Wild Hawk player and both teams hit the deck, ending up with Waterloo throwing up a prayer that was not answered.

Final Score: Scarborough Blues 76-75

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