Colin Connors (St. Johns/Gonzaga High (Brock)) knocked down a buzzer-beating three to win the game for the Warriors, who swept the weekend series against the Algoma Thunderbirds. The Warriors were down by as many as 16 points, but ultimately prevailed by a score of 67-65 on Saturday night.
The game started with a three by Justin Hardy (Waterloo/Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary), but the Warriors didn't score another field goal for nearly four minutes, when a layup by Evan Rodenburg (Cambridge/St. Benedict's Catholic Secondary School) broke the drought and cut the deficit to 3 points. Coming off the bench late in the 1st quarter, Algoma's Pedro Costa scored the Thunderbirds` next 14 points, giving his team a 24-15 lead after 10 minutes of play.
The Warriors were strong on defense to start the 2nd quarter, holding Algoma without a field goal for four minutes. However, back-to-back blocks on Nedim Hodzic (Waterloo/Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary) resulted in a quick five points in transition for Algoma's Ian Nash, who extended the Thunderbirds' lead to 16 points. On the strength of 40.5% shooting and 7 blocks, Algoma led the Warriors 41-25 at halftime.
Both teams traded baskets to start the second half. After missing a three, Justin Malnerich (Cambridge/St. Benedict's Catholic Secondary School) saved his own miss from bouncing into the stands and passed it off to David Ramon Prados (Madrid/Virgen de Atocha (North Platte College)) (Madrid, Spain), who drained a three and forced Algoma to call a timeout with the score at 51-40 . The Warriors didn`t stop scoring, as they went on a 9-2 run to close the quarter, capped off by a buzzer-beating layup by Simon Petrov (Waterloo/Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary). Waterloo trailed by only 4 points at the end of the 3rd quarter.
With just over five minutes remaining in the game, Justin Hardy (Waterloo/Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary) was called for colliding with Ian Nash in the air, but picked up an additional technical and fouled out with the Warriors trailing by 6. Hardy`s exit from the game sparked a Warriors 7-2 run to cut the deficit to 1. Warriors coach Justin Gunter called his second timeout with 8.2 seconds left to move the ball up the court.
On the ensuing inbound, David Ramon Prados (Madrid/Virgen de Atocha (North Platte College)) found Nedim Hodzic (Waterloo/Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary) at the elbow. Hodzic drew a double team and kicked it out to an open Colin Connors (St. Johns/Gonzaga High (Brock)) (St. John's, NL), who beat the buzzer with a game-winning three.
Justin Hardy (Waterloo/Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary) led the Warriors with a game-high 21 points. Nedim Hodzic (Waterloo/Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary) added 15 points and 14 rebounds for his 8th double-double of the season. Colin Connors (St. Johns/Gonzaga High (Brock)) had 8 points, which included the game-winning three pointer. Algoma had four players in double figures, led by Pedro Costa's 16 points.
The Warriors play next at home against the McMaster Marauders on January 10. Game time is 8:00 pm.
