By Wally Donaldson
The Oshawa Express

No matter what the final outcome may be in the gold medal game this evening or the acknowledgement of high expectations with each athlete among 18 teams involved, the chatter around the cafeteria tables will focus on one game.
The top-ranked Pickering Trojans, provincial boys basketball champions in 2007 and 2008, were horses once again throughout the Lake Ontario Secondary School Association (LOSSA) campaign and were fine tuned for yet another Ontario title.
Meanwhile, the Hamilton St. Thomas More Knights came into the Ontario Federation (OFSAA) Quad-A senior championship as the 12th ranked team, although coach Stefano Giovannangeli quietly observes a higher ranking was definitely in the cards.
Indeed, Pickering skipper Michael Gordensky was of the same opinion as these two teams hooked up in the opening round on Monday afternoon at Durham College.
The one glimmer of hope the Knights had in their favor was a victory over the Trojans last November at a tournament in Waterloo.
And the absence of Trojans’ top marksman MiKyle McIntosh due to a pair of technical fouls during Pickering’s 83-74 LOSSA win over Ajax J. Clarke Richardson Collegiate also potentially left the door wide open for an upset.
You can see where this is going.

Up by as much as 13 points during this spirited confrontation, the Trojans perhaps relaxed a little while the Knights began chipping away and within the final three minutes, the ball and outcome were in the air.
With hands in his face and no net to see, Zack Angelini’s successful shot from outside the three-point perimeter lifted the Knights to a tie and Lamarr Barr’s layup with five seconds left on the clock launched the Knights to a 55-53 victory.
While the Knights and a huge contingent of Hamilton fans celebrated, the stunned Trojans looked at each other. Natiel McKenzie, glancing at the other end of the floor, muttered out loud, “What just happened here?”
Giovannangeli, grinning like a Cheshire cat, believed his Knights had a chance in this one. “The disparity between the first seed and 12 is not that much,” he said. “The boys were excited about playing Pickering, but I reminded them that excitement is one thing, but so is responsibility. We had a great opportunity here.”
Angelini was top sniper for the Knights with 18 points.
McKenzie collected 13 points for the Trojans, who led 17-7 after one quarter, 30-25 at the half and 45-35 heading into the final quarter. Kaza Keane added 11 points.
The early loss did not eliminate Pickering from claiming a title, but it did set them back on their heels. They played Oakwood yesterday.
“How sweet it was to see Lamarr with the bucket for the win,” beamed Giovannangeli. “I’m so proud of these guys. All year we preached positivity and I’m just happy to see this pay off for the guys.”
Once the Trojans began losing their focus, Gordensky used his timeouts.

“I had to. We were getting rattled and the boys weren’t sure what they were doing offensively,” said Gordensky. “They started trapping us and we didn’t have anybody in the middle of the court and we turned the ball over. To Thomas More’s credit, they kept playing and kept playing and even when they were down 13, they kept coming back. So credit has to go for their effort. We played great for 28 minutes and in the last four, we fell apart.”
 The loss of McIntosh with the one-game suspension was huge, according to the Pickering coach.
“I really believe that if we did have MiKyle in the lineup, we would have won this running away. He’s a 20-point average player and that was missing.”
The bronze medal game is slated for 6 p.m. this evening, followed by the gold medal game at 8 p.m.