JONATHAN BRODIE
SPORTS REPORTER
Ron Gabay tries bounce passing it around a Royals player. (Jonathan Brodie)
ANCASTER – With half its squad back from serving suspensions for breaking curfew, the Humber men’s basketball team is set to defend its title as provincial champions.
“I think we are as ready as we’re going to be,” said Michael Acheampong, one of the star players suspended during a road trip to Windsor and Sarnia earlier this month. “I think the time is now to go out and get it.”
James Depoe, varsity basketball co-ordinator, was equally optimistic.
“I think this group is pretty well the best team that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” he said. “It would be a shame if we didn’t put it together.”
The Hawks claimed gold last season in the OCAA tournament, than lost in the semifinals at the national championships.
Humber (17-1), and on a 13-game winning streak in league play, begins the eight-team OCAA tournament next Thursday at Fanshawe College, the only gym where the Hawks have suffered a loss all season – 52-41 to the host Falcons (14-3) last November.
“It’s always been a place where we’ve struggled since I’ve been at Humber,” said sixth-year head coach, Darrell Glenn. “I’m not sure how exactly to put my finger on it but it does seem to feel different.”
His team qualified for a bye into the quarter-finals of the playoffs with a 58-56 win on Feb. 16 over the Mohawk Mountaineers in Hamilton and a 71-32 thrashing of Redeemer (2-16) in Ancaster on Tuesday night.
The Hawks will open the playoffs against the winner of the game March 4 between the Fleming Knights (15-5) and Mohawk (11-7).
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me who we play,” said Humber centre J.R. Bailey. “I always look at it as you got to beat the best to be the best.”
Humber beat the Mountaineers twice this season, while not facing the Knights since beating them in the quarterfinals of last year’s playoffs.