Shock capture OBA U12 boys gold

 Trailing at half-time St. Thomas pulls it together over the second half

 for a 49-45 win against Belleville in the Ontario Cup division four final

   April 11, 2022

St. Thomas Shock OBA U12 boys D4 champions, from left, are: front row (holding ball) - Cam Renaud, Quinton Herbert; second row - Ben McCoubrey, Evan Howick, Ayden Annett; third row - Liam Jones, Colten Brookes, Jack Moore, Mason Cowie, Connor Schaap, Liam Dlouhy, Tiernan DesRosiers, Matteo Thomas, Parker Luyks; fourth row - head coach Casey Herbert, assistant coach Jeff Renaud, assistant coach Mike Luyks. Absent from photo is assistant coach Bruce Thomas. (photo / Kelly Schaap)

By Rob J. Ross 

ST. THOMAS - The St. Thomas Shock are provincial champions.

St. Thomas went undefeated capturing the U12 boys' gold medal for Division four of the Ontario Basketball Association Ontario Cup, at Fonthill, April 10.

Trailing at half-time, the Shock made adjustments in the second half, for a 49-45 win over Belleville, in the gold medal game.

"I couldn't have been happier as a coach. The boys really did everything that they were asked to do," Shock coach Casey Herbert said. "To grit it out, they way they did was really impressive. The elation of the boys after was neat to watch."

Connor Schaap led the Shock with eight points. Mason Cowie chipped in with six points and finished the tournament averaging 12.74 points per game.

"We came out really well, but then we got behind and were a little bit unorganized. We were turning the ball over. We were down four points at half-time, Herbert said. "We talked at half about doing the things we needed to do. We got to the seventh shift (second half) and made a little adjustment and started to pressure the ball a bit. We forced some turnovers. The last group came on and executed really well and closed the game out. I challenged a couple boys to step up the defence and they reacted."

Cam Renaud leaps into teammates Ayden Annett and Colten Brookes after the St. Thomas Shock defeated Bellville, in the Ontario Cup U12 boys' division four gold medal game. (photo / Kelly Schaap)

St. Thomas finishes the season ranked number 25 in the province out of 80 teams from the 10 divisions within the OBA.

"First and foremost they were a great bunch of kids that have given a hundred per cent effort all of the time," Herbert said. "They've always shown up and never gave any attitude. They were ready to play all of the time."

The Shock opened the tournament, edging the Guelph Knights, 42-39, with Cowie dropping in 11 points.

"We probably had our worst game of the year Friday (against Guelph), said Herbert. "But we were able to gut it out and made some clutch free throws down the stretch. I think we were nervous. Saturday, we were more relaxed. We executed well and reacted well to some time outs."

Cowie poured in 20 points, as St. Thomas dumped the Mississauga Monarchs, 59-47, and had 14 points in the Shock's 59-47 quieting of the Stratford Revolution.