Revenge is sweet, just ask the Vincent J. Maloney Marauders.
They knocked off the undefeated Lorne Akins Gators by a whopping 22 points for the SAPEC tier I boys’ basketball title Friday at the SkyDome.
“The first time we played them we lost and but we got our revenge in the final,” said VJM game star Aymar Sigue after a lengthy team photo shoot with the coveted championship trophy. “I’m very proud of our team. Nobody was expecting us to win but we pulled through.”
In week two in the SAPEC schedule the Gators thumped VJM 70-48.
“We didn’t play that well that game so I’m happy we played well this time,” said co-captain Zane Warren. “We brought the heat the whole time.”
It was too easy for VJM. Period scores were 19-15 after the opening nine minutes, 39-31 at halftime and 57-47 to start the fourth quarter.
“We were surprised,” Sigue said of the lopsided result. “We were expecting it to be closer, by like five points.”
Nine VJM players registered points, led by Sigue’s 18 and 14 from big guy Kirklen Robinson.
The Gators’ offence revolved around the speedy Cory Knott with 16 points, including eight in the third quarter. Brett Gorbahn added 12 and Kieran Murphy had 11.
“They’re a fast-paced team so we slowed it down and worked it around and finished hard at the hoop,” said Warren, a steady Grade 9 point guard who pumped in 13 points.
The Gators were 24-2 overall going into the final, and no SAPEC team had come within 20 points of the division leaders in league play.
The Gators also struggled without their best player, Frankie White, who was in the Philippines. The slashing guard averaged 20-plus points and 10 rebounds per game. The Gators’ press wasn’t the same without White and VJM did a great job of breaking it in his absence.
“We worked together well as a team. We were passing and our plays were working really well,” Sigue said.
The pressure was on VJM after the girls lost their final to the Gators by five points.
“After the girls defeat everybody was a little down but we really wanted to win this game and it feels pretty good that we did,” Sigue said. “What we did is extremely exciting. We get a banner in our school so now our victory is always going to be displayed.”
The final was close briefly until VJM jumped ahead to stay, when Greg Hebb converted a turnover to break a 13-all tie with about two minutes left in the first quarter.
VJM started the second quarter with four baskets in a row and kept ramping up the attack.
In the third quarter, after the Gators closed the gap to 44-41, Sigue fired the only three-ball in the final with 4:52 left in the period. The play of the game was greeted with a loud roar of approval by the VJM fans.
VJM would close out the period with a 10-6 point run that ended with a layup by Robinson before the buzzer.
“Even though they got on a run for a little bit we came back and started bringing more intensity,” Warren said. “We just would not let them score. We started working our way back up again and we just held the lead.”
Sigue, 14, knew it was a done deal after the third quarter.
“We were leading by 10 and that’s when we started to get confident and we started playing even more as a team,” he said.
Surprisingly, the Grade 9 standout had never played basketball before until this season.
“Aymar is a committed soccer player and had never really considered basketball until this year and was persuaded by a few peers and coaches to give it a try. Being the tremendous athlete he is, Aymar was able to become an unstoppable force on the court,” said coach Amy Schreiber. “We started our year with four boys who had never played a season of basketball before. Aymar and Kirklen [were] two of those players with zero experience [and they] developed into two marquee players on the team.”
According to Schreiber, it was a season of growth for VJM. Warren and co-captain Justin Kolthof, who tossed in 10 points against the Gators, proved to exceptional leaders for a team that finished the season with a bang.
“The beginning of our season focused on fundamentals,” Schreiber said. “Once we mastered basic skills we moved on to offensive and defensive systems. After many practices and tournaments we were able to produce a very effective offence and I feel the best help-side defence in the league.”
In tournament action VJM placed fifth once, finished third twice and was runner-up once.
In league play VJM’s only loss was against the Gators.
“What we did tonight feels amazing,” said Warren, 14.
