NEWS RELEASE
ORILLIA LAKERS U14 BOYS
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The Orillia Lakers U14 Boys wrapped up a very successful season this weekend in Ottawa in Division 1 at the Ontario Cup. Once again, the team showed it can compete with the very best teams in the province, taking home silver.
On Friday, the Lakers opened against the Mississauga Monarchs and trailed most of the first half before pulling away for a 62-45 win. Caden McFee led the way offensively with 31 points.
The Lakers received another difficult test in their second game from CKATT – Roenik, who were on fire from outside but couldn’t handle the Lakers inside the paint. The Lakers led most of the way and won 59-50 thanks to great perimeter defense from Jayden Spezzano, William Lepage, Nathan Litherland and Legen Adusei.
This set up a semifinal matchup with the Kitchener/Waterloo Vipers. The Vipers’ star, Patrick Fordyce, gave the Lakers all sorts of problems early scoring at will and getting the Lakers in foul trouble. The Lakers’ Kelechi Nwokeke stepped up and took over duties on the Vipers’ top scorer which allowed the Lakers to get back into the game.
The game went back and forth until the Lakers' Mcfee received an elbow above his eye that instantly swelled nearly shut. While McFee got treatment, the Vipers took a five-point lead and proceeded to stall to waste time or bait the Lakers into extending their defence against the speedy Vipers. The Lakers didn’t take the bait and waited for McFee, who finished the game with 27 points, to return.
When he did, the Lakers made their push. Down one with two minutes left, two McFee freethrows and a Nwokeke rebound put-back put the Lakers up three. After the Vipers trimmed the lead, a perfect pass from Lepage led to a spectacular McFee finish to put the Lakers back up three. Defence and clutch free throws from Nwokeke and Litherland iced the 63-56 win.
In the championship game, the Lakers played well but couldn’t match hot shooting from CKATT – We Not Me. Down 14 entering the final quarter the Lakers made one final push. Nathan Litherland caught fire from outside and the Lakers got their fast break going momentarily to pull to within six points. The Lakers couldn’t sustain the run against the deserving champs from Mississauga who pulled away for a 59-44 win.
The Lakers spectacular season is over but along the way this team picked up two tournament championships, an Ontario Basketball League championship, third place in the Hoop City League and second place in Ontario Cup Division 1. This incredible season was possible thanks to sponsors JL Construction, Oscar’s Variety and Market, 125 Breakfast, Master Lube, The Buck Group and IRP Industrial Rubber.
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