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Rams survive semifinal scare
First place St. Joe's needs OT to defeat Parkside in senior hoops
February 13, 2024
By Rob J. Ross
ST. THOMAS - The Parkside Stampeders gave the St. Joseph's Rams a good scare.
St. Joes needed overtime to squeeze by the Stampeders, 87-81, in a Thames Valley Region Athletics (TVRA) South-East AA senior boys basketball quarterfinal Tuesday at St. Joe's.
Undefeated throughout the regular season going 10-0, the Rams were pushed by the 6-4 Stampeders throughout the game. "I felt we were too lax going in. We beat them by like 30 (regular season), so our mindset wasn't like, we got to beat them. We already won before, so it should be an easy game," Rams captain Kurt Oberus. "They had nothing to lose, so they were just going at us. Once we realized what was happening in the first half, we had to be more desperate. It wasn't looking good for us."
A buzzer beater gave the Rams a 42-40 lead at half.
St. Joe's held a 75-71 advantage with 43 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but the Stampeders made a couple crucial plays tying the game at 76.
"We started playing more defence and being more aware on defence," Oberus said. "They had some good shots. Their number two (Geremey De Schutter) is a good shooter, but the entire team was shooting well. They had a lot of second chances too. Then (Rams) Caleb (Ndur) had some good boards, to not let those second chances happen."
The Rams move on to the final against Woodstock St. Marys' and qualify for WOSSAA, February 22nd in London.
"Feels great, but we expect it. Our goal is OFSAA. We want to make it there. We have three more games left," said Oberus. "We have to start better and start with our defence and be able to go right off the bat. We can't be playing lax at the start."
Davis Streib poured in a game high 34 points for the Rams.
"He knows what he's doing and he knows how to score," said Oberus, who had 10 points.
Along with numerous rebounds, Ndur sunk 22 points.
Tai Montford and Geremey De Schutterled Parkside with 21 and 20 points respectively. Evan Jackson put in 15 points and Brody Ward, 12.
St. Joe's host St. Mary's in the South-East AA final, 3 p.m. Thursday.
The Rams also advanced to the South-East AA junior title game, disposing of Ingersoll, 69-31, in the semifinals.
Kenjesse Ude dropped 20 points and Hudson Else had 12.
It will be an all St. Thomas junior final, as Parkside defeated Tillsonburg Glendale, 45-38, in the other semifinal.
The South-East AA junior final is at St. Joe's, Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
Both Parkside and St. Joe's also qualify for junior WOSSAA.
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