TAPS dances to second consecutive Vetrie title

For the second consecutive year, Toronto Academy Prep School captured the Annual Guy Vetrie Invitational Basketball Tournament.

In front of a packed house in the Korah gymnasium on Saturday night, TAPS took a 64-55 decision over Toronto's Father Henry Carr Crusaders in the championship game.

While the victory marked a repeat for TAPS, Father Henry Carr recorded their third straight medal performance at the tournament. Father Henry Carr captured gold in 2004 before winning bronze last year.

Tournament most valuable player Shamar Coombs led TAPS with 18 points while former Bawating Braves star D.J. Wright added 13, Javari Willams 11 and Dale James 10. Marvin Whyte led the Crusaders with 19 points while Stanley Ankrah drained 12 and Dominique Brown 10.

Wright and Yonas Berhe of the Crusaders were named the championship game MVPs for their respective teams.

TAPS, who only dressed seven players for the tournament, jumped out to a quick start as Wright nailed a long three-point shot at the buzzer for a 21-10 lead after one quarter.

After Father Henry Carr trimmed the lead to four points at the half, the Crusaders opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run to take a 35-33 lead.

But TAPS responded with an 8-0 run of their own to regain a lead they would not relinquish.

Late in the game, Father Henry Carr cut the deficit to three points with 2:50 remaining but TAPS ran an effective stall offense to kill the clock as Wright hit the team's final two field goals in closing seconds.

Fans were forced to wait patiently for the opening tip in the championship game as Father Henry Carr's semi-final game had to be quickly moved to White Pines causing the delay.

Originally scheduled for Sir James Dunn, the playoff game was shifted after the Crusaders' Henry Trotter ripped down the basket while dunking making the venue unplayable.

TAPS advanced to the final with a 74-54 win over London's H.B. Beal in one semi-final while Father Henry Carr eventually downed Sudbury's Lasalle Lancers 70-38 in the other semi-final.

London Beal captured the bronze medal with a 67-42 win over Lasalle. Arnold Mayorga scored 15 points for Beal while Eric Marques replied with eight points for Lasalle.

Locally, the Korah Colts and St. Basil Saints each advanced to the playoff round of the tournament but fell in quarterfinal action. The Saints fell to TAPS while the Colts fell to eventual bronze medalist London Beal.

*** SATURDAY'S GAME RESULTS:

QUARTERFINALS

TAPS -- St. Basil --

London Beal 61 (Adam Jesperson 17) Korah 40 (Christian Johnson 15)

Father Henry Carr 49 (Ropel Grenaway 16) Timmins High 42 (Brandon Latourelle 17)

Sudbury Lasalle -- Brampton Humberview --

SEMI-FINALS

TAPS 74 (Javari Williams 23) London Beal 54 (Adam Jesperson 12)

Father Henry Carr 70 (Marvin Whyte, Curtis Trotter 14) Sudbury Lasalle 38 (Eric Marques 8)

*** TOURNAMENT ALL-STARS:

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

Shamar Coombs (TAPS)

FIRST ALL-STAR TEAM

Marvin Whyte (Father Henry Carr) Yonas Berhe (Father Henry Carr) Paul Popo-Ola (London H.B. Beal) Javari Williams (TAPS) D.J. Wright (TAPS)

SECOND ALL-STAR TEAM

Jeff Bernoski (Thunder Bay Port Arthur) Andrew Lalonde (Sudbury Lasalle) Josh Budd (Timmins High) Christian Johnson (Korah) Adam Jesperson (London H.B. Beal)

***

CURRENTLY WRITING.