On Day 2 of the NPSAA Championship tournament the round robin games concluded to decide who would advance into the quarter finals with three of the four knockout matchups also getting underway.

Opening the day it was Metro Prep claiming the first seed in Pool B

With nine games on the schedule there was nearly 12 hours of high quality basketball on hand at Seneca College Newhnham Campus.

Here’s a look at how the matchups broke down.

Metro Prep vs. Elite Blues

Behind its staple defence and first quarter brilliance of Javon Leamy Metro Prep secured the first seed in Pool B with a convincing 76-52 victory over the Elite Blues.

It was the early use of the full court press that set the tone from the opening tip and it was evident what the focus for the gritty group was. Metro opened the game aggressive on D applying a full court press to disrupt the Blues Elite from initiating their offence.

“We know we got to play defence if we want to win this tournament, that’s the focus every game we have to play outstanding defence, starting with the press if we have any chance of winning,” said Phil Dixon Metro Prep head coach.

What really gave Metro an advantage after the first eight minutes was the play of Lamey who poured in 10 of his game-high 22 points in the opening quarter to give his squad a 22-8 lead. The margin would never get any closer than 10 the rest of the way.

“We were looking actually to attack the basket, mix things up a bit more, collect some fouls and put some pressure on them. That was really my main focus that was the game plan. It just so happened that he made one shot and he had that stroke and that feeling,” said Dixon.

A major advantage for the Predators was the disparity in three-point shooting, connecting on eight shots from beyond the arc compared to two for their opponents. As well as the extra points Metro received from the long bombs they were also the more aggressive team, attacking the rim and getting to the foul line as their 16 makes from the charity stripe would suggest.

Making their NPSAA tournament debut the Blues Elite looked like they had much to learn in order to compete with some of the heavyweights of the prep league. Their opponents controlled the glass and imposed their will on the defensive end proving to be the difference yet there were glimpses of potential for the new club throughout the contest.

Despite missing the first quarter Justin Jarvis chipped in with 21 points off the bench while Chavaun Bennet put in a team-high 17 points for the Blues.

With the victory Metro Prep advanced to the quarter finals and awaited their opponent in the knockout stage.

“We just got to come ready, we got to come ready to play. It doesn’t matter who’s on the court we have to come ready to take all comers and compete,” said Dixon.

Phenix Academy vs. Tri-County High School

It was a spectacular display for the Phenix Academy in their opening game of the NPSAA Championship tournament handling Tri-County High School with a 68-37 drubbing.

Coming out the gates like a bat out of hell, Phenix jumped on Tri-County early getting out to a 16-3 lead just halfway through the first quarter. Tri-County would struggle to recover after being buried in the early hole, down 20-5 after the first quarter.

It would be a downward spiral seemingly the rest of the way.

If it was even possible Tri-County’s offence was even bleaker in the second quarter scoring only five points again, as the bigger, longer more athletic Phenix Elite were all over the floor on the defensive end challenging all shots. As impressive as the defence for the Montreal based club was, their offence was equally effective cruising into the half ahead 37-10.

What was most impressive was the balanced scoring Phenix displayed with three players scoring in double-figures and 10 players recording a basket, with Steven Clark leading the way with a game-high 11 points.

REDA Red vs. Waltham Prep

In an intensely close game REDA Red were able to come from behind Waltham Prep to claim the first seed in Pool C after a 76-72 overtime thriller.

Leading by four points with just four minutes to play it looked like Waltham was ready to walk away with the first seed from Pool C — REDA Red had other ideas.

Cutting the lead to two REDA looked poised to make a comeback not before Waltham pushed the lead back to six with fewer than two minutes to play. Looking out of it, REDA implemented its press and cut into the lead and go a stroke of good fortune when with 17 seconds left, Shaquille Keith took the ball coast-to-coast to convert on a layup and get fouled to get a free throw to send it to overtime.

The overtime would turn into a 3-point shooting display for REDA hitting five shots from beyond the arc in the extra  headed by Keith who finished with a game-high 23 points, including nine in the final five minutes.

“You got to take people seriously. Those guys played tough, they played hard, they played scrappy, they did what they needed to do to be successful,” said Tarry Upshaw REDA Red head coach. “I hope this is a wakeup call to our guys.”

Both teams came out firing to open the game, with the offences executing at an efficient rate. The back-and-forth affair led to an entertaining first eight minutes which saw four lead changes and three ties with REDA slightly ahead 16-15 after one.

Despite it being close it was apparent that REDA held a distinct advantage in size, getting on the boards and capitalizing with second chance opportunities. What primarily led to the gap to widening in the second quarter were the turnovers from Waltham allowing REDA to get out on the break and get easy baskets in transition.

Along with the turnovers what really hurt Waltham was leading scorer Kayshawne Spencer getting into early full trouble, picking up four fouls in the first half, as the Wildcats trailed 32-25 going into the break.

Sensing the momentum shifting Waltham opened up the second half on an 11-4 run to tie the game at 36 giving the undersized club the fuel to take the lead heading into the final quarter. A big factor for the comeback was the poor free throw shooting of REDA missing over seven attempts at the line, as they were behind 44-43 at the end of the third.

Keying the comeback was Kurtis Ethier who had seven points in the quarter including key steals to spark the Wildcats.

Leading the way for Waltham was Brandon Burke who finished with a team-high 17 points while Jaylen Harris added 16 and Mitchell Wood chipped in 16 off the bench for REDA.

With the victory REDA moves forward to the quarter final to face the loser from the next game between the ROCK Academy and GTA Venom. Despite the victory there was still much left  to be desired according to their head coach.

“We still didn’t run offence, we still didn’t run defence, we got a couple of steals and Shaq hit three 3-pointers that’s all that changed. We had a great player who made great plays, we stink!,” said Upshaw.

The ROCK Academy vs. GTA Venom

Behind a strong third quarter and the offensive brilliance of Jamal Reynolds the ROCK Academy defeated GTA Venom 79-69 to claim the first seed in Pool D.

Opening the second half on a 14-6 run over the first four minutes of the third quarter, ROCK Academy created a cushion and pushed the lead as large as 12 to take a 60-50 advantage into the final frame.

“We came out and made some baskets, defensively we started capitalizing on the opportunities our defence created and we took advantage of the first three or four minutes we were able to capitalize,” said Keith Vassell ROCK Academy head coach.

Though both sides seemed equally matched there was a one-on-one battle brewing between Reynolds and Rohan Boney scoring 11 and 12 points in the first half respectively, it would carry over into the second half. Finishing the game with a game-high 25 points it was the ROCK high man that would come out on top despite a team-high 24 points from Boney.

“Jamal [Reynolds] knows how to put the ball in the basket, he’s the truest definition of a slasher and he knows how to get to the basket and challenges any defender that stands in his way. I thought he played fantastic today and he carried our team on his shoulders for some stretches, ” said Vassell.

A big part of the ROCK’s success was their ability to make shots from deep while containing their opponents, connecting on eight 3-pointers compared to just two for the Venom.

“When you get layups and are able to stretch the defence by hitting some shots then it’s just a matter of forcing the defence to make decisions, are they going to play in the key or are they going to close out, so it was huge,” said Vassell.

In a battle between two of the more athletically gifted teams in the tournament, the opening quarter that end-to-end action was on display early. In the first eight minutes there were five lead changes with the Venom holding a slight advantage, 18-17 after one.

It was evident early where the strengths of both of these teams lied with the focus being primarily on getting up and down the floor in transition with little emphasis on defence. 

There was more of that same back-and-forth action in the second with another four lead changes and two ties in the quarter with GTA narrowly ahead 41-40 at the break.

With the win ROCK Academy moves ahead for a quarterfinal matchup against Waltham Prep on Saturday morning while GTA Venom move on to play .

REDA Black vs. Phenix Academy

In an absolute shocker Phenix Academy handed REDA Black just its second loss in 2012 with a 57-47 victory to secure the first seed in Pool A.

It was a victory earned after a strong third quarter brought Phenix back from a seven point halftime deficit. Holding REDA to just seven points in the third and taking the lead for the first time at the buzzer off a Kevin Mirindi three-pointer to make it 35-34 Phenix heading into the final frame, it looked like the nation’s top team was in a world of trouble.

“First time out I felt like we were the underdogs but this was March Madness for everyone so we just got to upset. I think we did a good job not allowing Connor Wood to get his shoot off and we did a decent job defensively, ” said Igor Rwigema Phenix Academy head coach.

Turning to their senior leadership REDA was able to crawl back in the game off of the play of Richard Audu and Kashrell Lawrence as they led the fourth quarter push. It was Audu that began the comeback getting shots to drop but it was the inspired rebounding and intensity of Lawrence that turned the tide.

Despite the rally Phenix stood strong and kept their composure in the face of adversity and refused to let the game slip away.

“I said ‘we got to protect the basket, eight minutes is a lot of time, execute, stay focused,’ the guys believed. I told them ‘the last time we played them we lost so this is our chance to get even,’” said Rwigema.

After Phenix’s opening games offensive efficiency its evident the size and speed of the REDA is creating problems for the bigs on the inside. Shots were either blocked or contested near the rim with nothing easy coming.

Despite the early struggles the Montreal based squad managed to make adjustments to make a game of it, trailing 14-11 after the first quarter.

The score must have gotten too close for comfort for REDA and they built a cushion after opening  the second quarter on a 9-4 run, the nation’s No.1 ranked team was able to create some distance. It wouldn’t take long for Phenix to respond, however, using a 6-0 run to cut into the deficit as REDA struggled to take care of the ball and allowed their opponents to capitalize on their turnovers.

Leading all scorers was Joel Tshimanga who finished with 12 points while Juwan Granum had 12 for REDA.

With the win Phenix advanced to face the winner of the next game in the second quarterfinal while REDA Black would be matched up against Metro Prep in the first quarterfinal of the night.

PHASE 1 Academy vs. Blues Elite

In the only win or go home game of pool play PHASE 1 Academy decidedly moved past Blue Elite with the convincing 62-40 victory to secure the second seed in Pool B.

There was very little doubt after the opening quarter which team was in control of the game, as PHASE 1 imposed their will early and often. Most of their opportunities came in transition off of their stellar defence that was causing fits for the Blues.

Looking to be in complete control and a pending quarterfinal matchup just around the corner PHASE 1 elected to go to the bench to conserve some of the starters. It was during that break Blues Elite made their push back into the game.

After trailing by as much as 25, the Blues would cut into the margin in the fourth quarter to force PHASE 1 to bring back the starters to close it out. Though the comeback would cut the deficit to as low as 14 it inevitably would fall short but Elite didn’t roll over for their opponents to coast to victory.

Leading all scorers was Johneil Simpson who put in 17 points.

With the win PHASE 1 needed to catch their breath quickly facing Phenix Academy in the first quarterfinal matchup of the evening.

Quarterfinal 1 - Phenix Academy vs. PHASE 1 Academy

Using a first quarter flurry PHASE 1 propelled itself over Phenix Academy with a convincing (bla) victory to qualify for the semifinals for the second year in a row at the NPSAA Championship tournament.

Reminiscent of a year ago the pesky PHASE 1 Academy realized their potential and exceeded expectations at just the right time.

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Seemingly carrying over momentum from their previous game PHASE 1 opened up their quarterfinal matchup with intensity and fire that Phenix struggled to meet. Jumping out to a 15-2 lead after just five minutes of play it was evident PHASE 1 had its sights set on playing on championship Saturday.

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With the game unravelling as fast as it started Phenix responded to narrow the gap but still trailed 20-9 after the first eight minutes of play.

Even as it seemed Phenix was about to make a push, cutting the lead to single-digits in the second quarter, the tenacity of the PHASE 1 defence clamped down and made life miserable for the Quebec based group, especially in bringing up the ball where turnovers seemed to pile up due to the press. Capitalizing off of those errant passes allowed PHASE 1 to maintain and build on their lead heading into the break with a 38-24 advantage.

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A big contributor to the rout was the outside shooting of PHASE 1 that seemed to be contagious. As a group PHASE 1 connected on eight shots from outside with five players making shots from beyond the arc. None were more impactful then the ones off the fingertips of Jelani Daniel, however, who made four shots from 3-point range to lift his team and bring the bench to life.

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