Heart break on the hard court

  Rams fall to Jaguars, 55-51, in District senior boys hoops semi-finals

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

By Rob J. Ross 

ST. THOMAS - The St. Joseph's Rams were left broken hearted and it had nothing to do with Valentine's Day.

Following a first place finish in the London District league, the Rams' season came to an abrupt end, crushed like a crumpled up rose, after being upended by the London John Paul Jaguars, 55-51, in a senior boys' basketball semi-final, at St. Joseph's high school.

"When it comes down to games like this, it just hurts because we had opportunities galore," Rams coach Richard Mommersteeg said. "We had more than enough chances to win that game. Two baskets. We played well enough to win but we didn't score well enough to win."

Down seven points at half-time, and as much as 10 points, the Rams rallied to within three points with 10 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, but missed on two attempts at three points. The second shot hitting top of the rim, but dropping to the outside of the net.

The Rams shot three for 23 from three point land and saw several easy lay-ups not drop.

"We didn't make our first three until the end of the third quarter. We were down at half and we played horrendous," said Mommersteeg. "We really never got better until two or three minutes left in the game. We never ever pushed them. We got back into the game, playing our zone set, but we couldn't score."

St. Joe's finished a top the District at 9-1, including defeating John Paul II, 56-48, on January 18. The Rams were 25-7 overall.

Mommersteeg, who is retiring this June after 33 years of teaching, was hoping to extend his coaching career by at least one more game.

"I wasn't sad for myself. I was sad for this team. I love this team. I think they're the greatest group of kids I've coached in a long while," Mommersteeg said. "We had such a great season. When your final result is such a poor shooting game, it just feels something went wrong for the kids. It wasn't based on effort. They worked hard to try to get themselves back in that basketball game."

Mykal Donald had a game high 22 points for the Rams.

John Paul II led 13-10 after one quarter and that early lead was a goal of the visiting team.

"We needed to get out early and we did and we used our size," Jaguars' coach John Shoemaker said. "We went inside right away, right to the rim and wanted to take advantage of our height. That was bit of the difference."

The Jaguars' balanced attack was led by Jai-Quan McNamara who scored 15 points. Andrew Beasly had 10 points, nine from a trio of three pointers in the second half. Koch Agok finished with 11 points.

The Jaguars move on to face London Mother Teresa in the District final.