PICKERING TAKES GOLD AT SILVERFOX

Broadcastsports Staff                                                                                 Posted January 13, 2008

(Hamilton, ON) - Devoe Joseph scored a game high 21 points on a dizzy array of shots as the Pickering Trojans pummeled Eastern Commerce Saints 81-52 in the Championship game at the 37th annual Silverfox Invitational.  The heavily recruited Joseph, who is headed to the University of Minnesota  also collected the tournament MVP award and proved once again that he's one of the best high school players to emerge from Ontario in the last decade.

Pickering improved their overall record to 36-2  and knocked off Eastern for the fourth straight time dating back to Eastern's Holiday Classic in 2006. The Trojans also knocked off the Saints at the 2007 Holiday Classic and the 2007 OFSAA Quad A Final.

The Trojans were slow off the jump and trailed 10-4 mid way in the first quarter before the Pickering's Coaches called a time-out and  pointed the Trojans in the right direction.

"We weren't  getting back on defense" said Pickering Assistant Coach David Joseph. 

It was a wake-up call for the number 1 ranked team in Ontario, who showed why they are the heavy favorite to repeat at OFSAA Championship in March.  They reeled off the next 9 points and led 13-10 at the end of the first quarter. The Trojan gallop continued and by the midway point of the  second quarter the Trojan run had reached 21-10. At the half the score was  42-24 Pickering. and Eastern was never a serious contender the rest of the way.

"Were athletic, fast and hard to handle on a big floor" says Devoe Joseph, who along with the other 4 Pickering starters combined to score a  whopping 71 of the Trojans 81 points.

Supporting  Devoe Joseph's 21 were brother  Corey who chipped in with 16 points, Justin Wiltshire continued his improved play with 14 points including a spectacular alley-oop dunk. Jonathan Tull dropped in 12, while Dwayne Smith added 8 points and captured the tournaments defensive MVP honours.

"We fought hard" says Eastern's Head Coach Kevin Jeffers, who conceded that playing five games in 3 days took its toll on his team.  "We had a tough semi against Beal and our quarter final match up against Cathedral was also tough" 

For the 21-4 Saints, Keaton Cole led the way with 15, JP Kambola a 6-9 forward added 12 points.

NOTES

About 300  watched the final game at McMaster University. It was the 6th time in the last 7 years that Eastern played in the Final game. They have won it on 4 occasions.

Devoe Joseph says  he visited four other schools before settling on the Golden Gophers of Minnesota. The other schools he considered  were Kansas, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt and  Texas.

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