Sports: Humber settles for bronze at Final Eight

A late offering from the end of the men's basketball season in March.

(Second-year guard Jadwey Hemmings, who had a great tournament, is seen to the left.)

Oshawa 03-08-07 -- Emotions were mixed after the Humber men’s basketball team beat the Algonquin Thunder 62-52 to capture the bronze medal at this year’s OCAA Final Eight provincial championships at Durham College in Oshawa last weekend.

Humber assistant coach Chris Cheng said the staff and team were “a little disappointed” with coming in third.

“We didn’t accomplish the goal we wanted to accomplish,” Cheng said.

“We came up short,” said second-year guard Kerlon Cadougan. “But it’s all right, that’s how it is.”

Head coach Darrell Glenn said nerves played a factor in how the Hawks finished. A combination of inexperience and the pressure of being two-time defending champions made the team a bit jittery.

“It was a lot for some of our guys to carry,” he said. “For many of them it was their first time being in this experience, and with being asked as much as we (the coaches) were asking for from this young team.”

It was a promising start to the weekend on Thursday, as the Hawks defeated the Niagara Knights 85-69 in the quarterfinals.

Hawk’s second-year guard and player of the game Jadwey Hemmings had a monstrous outing, scoring 19 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists.

“He stepped up and showed why he’s our best all-around player,” Glenn said.

Four other Humber players also scored in double figures. Guards Mackenzie Milmine and Kerlon Cadougan netted 17 and 11 points apiece, while forward Chris Thompson scored 11 points while pulling down 8 boards.

Backup guard Jonathan Tyndale’s 12-point effort rounded out a Humber offence that Niagara simply couldn’t keep pace with.

“I’m that guy that’s supposed to come off the bench and just spark it,” Tyndale said. “I took it upon myself to get it going so the guys can feed off that energy.”

The Hawks faced a tougher opponent in the semifinals on Friday night, the fifth-ranked St. Lawrence Vikings.

Humber lost a close contest 72-68 on a night where they got to the line only 10 times while allowing the Vikings to score 21 points on free-throws.

“We were tight,” Glenn said. “That’s the way we were the night before and we never really shook that. I remember Chris [Thompson] saying to me after the first game that he was nervous the whole game – that’s a little unusual.”

Cadougan echoed Glenn's sentiments.

“We should have won that game,” Cadougan said. “We were too amped up against those guys.”

The loss wasn't due to a falloff in production though. Hemmings was outstanding again, scoring 18 points, while registering nine boards and five assists. Thompson also added 12 points and nine rebounds, while Milmine scored 15.

It wasn’t enough though, as St. Lawrence’s top three scorers of Milton Holness, Mathicu Riendeau and Jonathan Braun combined for 56 points.

“We got out-hustled,” Glenn said. “I would have rather lost knowing we had played our best game. I don’t think they played the Humber team that (we’ve) been all year.”

The loss meant Humber would have to settle for a bronze medal match-up against Algonquin on Saturday.

“This game is always hard to play, because you really have the mindset toward one goal,” Cheng said. “But we stayed positive.”

Humber came out strong in the contest, taking a 29-28 lead into the second half, and didn’t relinquish the lead the rest of the way.

Thompson and Cadougan led Humber’s offence with 14 points apiece, with Hemmings contributing 11 points, six boards and five assists in another solid effort.

“Overall it was a good season because our guys got exposed to not always winning all the time,” Cheng added. “It will hopefully give them some motivation this summer.”

Indeed, there's an air of optimism despite the bittersweet result of this tournament. Humber is likely to be a much more formidable opponent this time next year, with no less than ten players returning for the 2007-2008 season.

“This core of guys now have some great experience,” Glenn said. “If we can add a couple more key pieces and still have this core who will be in their third year, I’m really excited about where we’ll be.”

Yet, the focus for Humber’s players now will be final exams more than free throws according to Cadougan.

“I’ve got a test to worry about now," he said. "We all do.”