STE. ANNE DE BELLEVUE, Que. - At its core, the game of
basketball is one with a finite outcome - when the clock hits
triple zeros, the scoreboard will dictate whether you have your
hand raised in victory or not.
In that sense, the Sheridan Bruins men's basketball team (33-12,
21-2 OCAA) did not achieve what they set out to, as they were
unable to secure the bronze medal after a 99-93 overtime loss to
Langara.
What they did do though, was pour nearly five months worth of
heart and soul onto the floor at John Abbott College in an
awe-inspiring second half, as they saw a nine-point halftime
advantage turn into an 11-point deficit but never once showed any
signs of surrender as they scratched and clawed their way back to
be right there at the end.
"It's extremely disappointing - not in the way we played, but the
result. I really, honestly felt that we had earned a win and there
were just a couple of turning points that we couldn't recover
from," Sheridan head coach Jim Flack said. "The
foul trouble, we made some really poor decisions at times that led
to their transition and layups. I think every coach by the time
they get to this point in the season, they just want the best for
their guys and really felt that we deserved to go home with a medal
of some kind. But in the end we're a Final Four team and the
Ontario champions, so we just have to march on like that."
The first five minutes was a tug-of-war for control, as Langara
scored first but Kadeem Hall answered with a pair
of three-pointers to take an early 6-2 lead.
Sheridan would continue to hold a narrow edge until the game
neared the four minute mark, when a 9-0 Langara run in 1:22 held
the PacWest champions to lead 24-16 at the end of the first.
The Double-Blue owned the second quarter, limiting Langara to only
11 points - with only two in the final four minutes - as they
pulled ahead to lead 44-35 at the break.
Langara proved they were not going to go away however, opening the
second half on a 16-0 run, that turned into a 23-2 run and pushed
the Bruins into a 58-47 hole.
To compound matters, Sheridan had just two points in the quarter
until they hit their second shot from the floor at the 3:39
mark.
They still managed to be within striking distance - down 66-61 -
heading to the final period.
In the first minute, Langara extended their lead to nine, 70-61,
but 11-0 Sheridan run over a stretch of 3:03 gave the Bruins
a 72-70 edge.
The two sides traded runs late, and Sheridan was in front 82-79
with 85 seconds to play but Langara had pulled level with 27
seconds remaining.
The Bruins got a good look from deep, but the three-point attempt
clanged off the back rim and gave Langara chance to get in
transition looking for the winning bucket and while Jesse Jeffers
took it to the rack and was fouled, he missed both attempts to
force overtime.
In the extra frame, Langara scored 41 seconds in and while
Sheridan was able to knot the game at 91 with 1:21 to play, at no
point in overtime did they hold the lead.
Trevor Williams scored a team-high 26 points,
while Michael Selkridge (19), Kadeem
Hall (12), Roshean Keen (11) and
Dylan Periana (10) all hit double figures.
Sheridan found themselves in the bronze medal game after defeating
the hosts from John Abbott 85-58 in the bronze semi final, with the
game taking place just 13 hours after they'd been bounced from
title contention.
John Abbott scored the first two points, but Sheridan answered
with a 10-0 run and never trailed again - maintaining at least a
double-digit advantage from the second quarter on.
Williams once again paced the club with 24 points, with Selkridge
(19) and Periana (13) also hitting double-digits.
In looking back to assess the season's entire body of work, Flack
couldn't help but praise his team's ability to always battle
back.
"Like most of them, it's been a roller coaster ride," he said. "I
believe in that mantra that a season is a lifetime, and so many
things can happen in your life and if the season takes on a persona
- a life itself - then the same things happen. You have ups and
downs, how you recover from adversity - we did that so many times,
so well that I couldn't be any prouder of these guys. And the
reminder is there that all of the coaching staff is going to be
back at work on Monday, so it's expected that they'll be in class
putting their work in, too."
Blue notes: In the lengthy and illustrious history of basketball
at Sheridan, only six teams have posted more wins than the 33 this
year's team produced. Trevor Williams was named a first-team
tournament all-star, while Michael Selkridge earned a second team
nod.
Source: Sheridan I.T.