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www.insideHALTON.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, January 26, 2017 |3 2 Reding edges Raiders in OT thriller to win All-Catholic tournam ent By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver sta ff If there's one thing to be learned about the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders from the Halton all-Catholic Coaches Memorial Tournament, it's that you can never count them out. The Raiders mounted two heart-pound ing, last-minute comebacks -- one suc cessful, one not -- in the tournament final before falling 76-73 to the Bishop Reding Royals last Thursday in Milton. The Raiders erased a five-point lead in the final 50 seconds of regulation to force overtime. Aquinas then nearly overcame a six-point deficit in the last 10 seconds of overtime, getting to within one after a pair of clutch threes by Reniel Jamison. "They're a good rival. If we see them again in the playoffs, this just motivates us more," said the Grade 11 guard, whose team handed the 10-1 Royals their only loss in league play, a 58-56 decision in November. "We're both good teams. Now we have one and they have one, so we'll let the playoffs decide it." Aquinas, also 10-1 in Halton play, avenged its only loss by beating Notre Dame 69-48 in the tournament's semifinal. That set up an entertaining matchup with the defending champion Royals. Through three quarters, the lead changed hands eight times and the teams were never separated by more than five points. A sixpoint run to open the fourth quarter put the Dimitar Variyski (32) of the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders attempts to beat Bishop Reding defender Hope Agbolosoo in last Thursday's final of the Halton all-Catholic Coaches Memorial Tournament. Bishop Reding won 76 73. | photo by Graham Paine - Burlington Post Royals up 56-51. With three minutes left, Reding opened up the biggest lead of the game, 62-55. Tyler Sagl cut it to five and it remained that way until Jam ison's three-pointer with 47 seconds to play made it 62-60. Sagl stole the ball on BR's next possession and his layup tied the game. With 37 seconds to play, the Royals set up for a final shot, but with fouls to give, Aquinas was able to force Reding to inbound the ball with just 4.3 seconds left. The Royals' shot bounced off the rim, sending the game to overtime. In overtime, Reding led by four when Sagl hit a long three to cut the lead to one with just over a minute to play. After a Reding basket, Sagl attempted anoth er three and fell as he came down. He was given a technical foul for embellishing in an attempt to draw a foul. The call had major implications: · It was Sagl's second technical -- he re ceived one early in the fourth quarter after coming to the defence of his brother when Chris Sagl was knocked to the floor -- send ing him and his 16 points to the bench for the rest of the game · Reding made the foul shot it was award ed to extend the lead to four, making it a two-possession game · Reding got possession of the ball with just 39 seconds to play After Reding extended its lead to 73-67, Chris Sagl fired a long pass to Jamison in the corner and he calmly nailed a three-pointer with five seconds to play. The Raiders imme diately fouled Reding on the inbound pass and the Royals made one of two for a 74-70 lead. Again Sagl's long pass found Jamison in the corner and he quickly got his shot away and swished it to make it a one-point game. "I just tried to shoot like I always do," said Jamison, who finished with 22 points, including five three-pointers. "It was a little more rushed and there was more pressure but I tried to keep the same mentality." Aquinas again fouled the Royals on the in bound pass but Reding's Jalen Mason made both with 1.1 seconds left. Reding then tipped Aquinas' pass as they tried to get it to Jamison one last time. "They definitely didn't show any quit," said Aquinas coach Joe Polizzi. "I'm super proud of the fight they showed. They exe cuted a couple of last-second plays so that's going to help in key situations later on. It was a tough game but there's definitely some areas we can improve." Connor Murphy (12) and Chris Sagl (10) were also in double figures for the Raiders while Noah Worth had six points. The Raiders may not have to wait until the Halton playoffs for a rematch with Bish op Reding. Both teams will advance to the Ontario Catholic Classic tournament in St. Catharines Feb. 10-11. "It's a great accomplishment (to qualify). 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