A missed free throw in the last two seconds gave defending champions Sir Wilfrid Laurier Blue Devils a nail-biting victory over their rivals West Hill Warriors in the East Region Senior Boys Tier One basketball final on Feb. 11 at Seneca College.

It was an extremely close game throughout, with no team leading by more than 10 points at any given time. Thirty-seven seconds left on the clock, Laurier sank a game-changing basket to tie West Hill with 51 points.

The score tied at 51, Laurier made a two-point basket to give them a two point lead with four seconds left to go in the fourth quarter.

With just 2.1 seconds on the clock, Laurier fouled West Hill, resulting in two free throws and giving the Warriors an opportunity to tie the game.

But the Warriors sank only one, letting the Blue Devils narrowly win the East region championship 53-52.

“I’m happy, but it’s more of a relief,” Laurier head coach Tony Vallejo said. “We were expected to repeat, and we were able to accomplish it. We had a lot of teams gearing to knock us down.”

The two teams played each other twice this year, once during regular season and once during a tournament the weekend of Feb. 5. Laurier came out on top both times.

The Blue Devils finished the season at the top of the Eastern Region standings with a perfect record of 10-0. The West Hill Warriors came second, finishing 8-2.

With the win, Sir Wilfrid Laurier advanced to the city championship and was to host Earl Haig for their quarter-final match on Feb. 18. Earl Haig finished first in the North/East region with a record of 6-3.

Eastern Commerce High School’s boys basketball team has been crowned champion of Toronto for the fourth year running after edging cross-town rivals Oakwood Barons 64-61 Thursday.

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New faces will certainly bring optimism to the Toronto Raptors but only time will tell if translates into a playoff spot. 

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Tony Duran scored 31 points to spoil coach Jim Barclay’s Centennial College debut as the Fleming College Knights downed the Colts 89-68 at Bill Crothers High School in Unionville on Wednesday.

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Jim Barclay

Centennial’s new men’s basketball coach Jim Barclay has a message for the rest of the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association.

Don’t expect the same 5-15 Colts they faced last season.

“I think we’re going to surprise some people,” Barclay said. “I think some teams that are maybe taking us for granted are going to be surprised when we get out there.”

Barclay brings an impressive coaching resumé to the fold, as just two years ago he led the Pickering High Trojans to a 70-2 record en route to winning the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations Quad-A championship.

The strength of this year’s squad will be in the guard play, Barclay said.

“Right now, I’d say that in the backcourt – the one, two, and three positions – I think we’re pretty solid,” he said.

“I’m a little concerned about the four, five position and my concerns would be alleviated if some people who I know are going to Centennial, and I thought were coming out, were there.”

Knowing that defence and rebounding is vital to any team’s success, Barclay will be ensuring his team focuses on helping one another when without the ball.

“Great defence causes turnovers, and turnovers causes fast breaks,” he said. “If we’re going to be small, then we really have to take care of boxing out and not just worry about big guys getting the ball.”

The new bench boss also recognizes that given the athleticism and offensive imaginations of this year’s crop of players, “what you have to do is harness that and put it into some kind of [defensive] system that works for everyone.”

Barclay is also confident players returning from last year will provide the on-court leadership necessary to complement what he will be preaching from the sidelines.

“Andre Bell came out for the first time last night, and he looks like he’s going to be a really good player,” he said. “Calmar Morgan has been involved with the program to some extent, and he is a real good player as well.”

Barclay will be joined on the sidelines by his long-time friend and assistant coach David Joseph.

“When [David's] oldest boy came to Pickering in Grade 9, David came to Pickering to basically help coach with me, and we’ve been coaching together ever since,” Barclay said.

“So the fact that we go back so far really makes it a lot of fun for us.”

The team will be without former player Roderick Robinson this year.

Last season, Robinson averaged 26.39 points per game, which was tops in the entire OCAA. There is no official word yet why this is the case.