Miguel Braun leads Top Notch Ethan to another win against Collège St-Jean Vianney Provincial (CSJV).
Top Notch Ethan earned their second win of the session, defeating CSJV Provincial 72-62. Braun’s good form continued from the night before with 21 points in this contest, exceeding 20 points and leading his team in scoring for a consecutive game.
Down by 14, CSJV Provincial managed to shift the momentum in the fourth quarter, holding Braun to zero points and TNP to just 12 points in the frame. However, the increased defensive intensity proved too little too late, especially because they only managed to score just 16 points themselves.
Top Notch Ethan’s Tasman Graham finished the Sunday morning game with 16 points.
CSJV Provincial finished their debut session in The Platinum Circuit with a 1-1 record.
Lennoxville Prep physically overwhelms Top Notch Prep RJ.
Lennoxville Prep cruised to a 97-70 victory over Top Notch RJ, overpowering the smaller (and younger) adversary. It was a balanced team attack by Lennoxville Prep, with Spanish national and 6’6” guard Nico González Longarela selected Player of the Game in recognition for a fourth quarter barrage where he scored 12 of his 17 points.
“There’s a connection between us and it makes us a different team too,” said Longarela of the heavy Spanish make-up of the team. “We can have different types of basketball plays because in Spain the game is different than here, so we can have a more unique style… In Spain, it’s more of a team game. This team combines styles.”
Lennoxville Prep was led by Longarela’s fellow countryman Luca del Bosco who led his team in scoring with 19. He uses his strong frame and relatively quick first step to get to the rim whenever possible and is adept at drawing fouls. He had a game-high of 10 free throw attempts and made seven.
As usual, the 6’7” PF Kendall Connor was the star for Top Notch RJ. The big man inside had a game-high 22 points while also anchoring the defence against the physically imposing Lennoxville squad.
This loss marked the end of Session 4 for Top Notch RJ. They finished the weekend with one win and one loss.
Collège St-Jean Vianney National hands CODE Academy first loss of Session 4.
CSJV National put on a defensive clinic to conclude their weekend, defeating CODE Academy 91-68. The game was kept close in the first half with CSJV National up 42-36 at halftime. The larger and more physically imposing CSJV National squad then turned up the physicality in the third quarter, limiting CODE Academy to just eight points — their worst offensive quarter of the session. CSJV National had 30 in the quarter.
The Quebec-based team was led by defence-first wing and Player of the Game Sam Carl whose primary assignment was to defend CODE Academy’s star guard Kymani Merraro. He did an excellent job as an agitator, occasionally picking him up full court and doing just enough to knock Merraro off balance without fouling. He’s also a longer guard with a good nose for the ball, frequently crashing the boards to create second opportunities for his team. He finished with eight points.
“We started slow a little bit,” said Carl. “I think in the third quarter we picked it up. Our main focus was on number 32 (Merraro). He’s a great player. We tried to be physical with him because he’s pretty good and quick.”
CODE Academy was led offensively by 6’6” wing Amare Allen. He had 18 points, all of which came in the first half. Merraro scored 17 but turnovers were an issue for him in the game.
CSJV National concluded Session 4 with a 3-0 record, improving to 7-2 on the season. Their 77.8 percent win rate is the highest in The Platinum Circuit among teams with at least seven games played.
CODE Academy went home with a 2-1 record and are 7-3 on the season. Their 70 percent win rate is the highest among teams with at least 10 games played in The Platinum Circuit.
Tri-City Prep claims first win of Session 4 versus BAE Academy.
After dropping two close games on Day 2, Tri-City Prep claimed their first win of the weekend on Day 3, defeating BAE Academy 83-76. They found a lot of success at the charity stripe — a whopping plus-14 at the line in the seven-point contest.
Leading the offence for the third time in a row was 6’1” PG Matthew Anglo. He had 24 points, crossing the 20-point threshold in all three of Tri-City Prep’s games in Session 4 (24.0 ppg). However, the Player of the Game was awarded to Quincy Bowen for his 11 points, playmaking from the post, and hustle plays, including some key steals down the stretch.
“My goal is just to bring in energy,” said Bowen. “I do what I have to do — do the dirty stuff. Get steals, rebounds, blocks, anything I can. The points just come along as I go through the game.”
Tri-City Prep concluded Session 4 with a 1-2 record, falling to 5-6 on the season. BAE Academy went 1-1 in their inaugural session of The Platinum Circuit.
Owen Frayne wills Kitchener Impact Academy to victory over Lennoxville Prep.
Kitchener Impact guard Owen Frayne went bonkers with a session-high 33 points to lead his short-handed team to a 91-87 win, handing Lennoxville Prep their first loss of the weekend. He made three triples, 13 buckets in all, and made 1-of-2 at the line. It was much-needed offence for head coach Chris Mathew who was without a number of key players, including his top two scorers in Nate Chan and Hayden Johns.
“We knew we had to step it up because those are really big pieces — 20-point scorers,” said Frayne. “We had to bring a lot of energy because we knew it would be tough and played harder longer.”
5’11” guard Naveen Mathew also had his strongest performance of the weekend, scoring 16 points for Kitchener Impact while also operating as the primary facilitator when he was on the floor.
Nico González Longarela led Lennoxville Prep in scoring for a second time with 18 points. Kaden Augustin, a 6’1” guard out of Jacksonville, Florida, was a close second with 17.
Kitchener Impact ended their session with a 1-1 record, and sit at 4-1 on the season. Lennoxville Prep went 2-1 in Montreal and improved to 4-2 on the season.
Ibrahim Basima’s 32 points leads Shawi Prep over Top Notch Ethan.
Shawi Prep put together their best performance of the weekend to defeat Top Notch Ethan 75-67. They were led by the red-hot Ibrahim Basima who scored 32 points. The 6’6” wing is an athletic three-level scorer with a knack for getting to the foul line. He went five-of-10 from the line, while scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter. In general, Shawi Prep closed out the game well, scoring 28 in the concluding quarter of Session 4.
Top Notch Ethan star Miguel Braun ran out of steam after the first quarter, scoring just three points across the final three quarters. He had 16 points in total. Kendall Connor generously contributed on offence as well, scoring 14. Abdul Sudani also had 14.
Top Notch Ethan ended Session 4 with a respectable 2-1 record, improving to 4-2 on the season. Shawi Prep went 1-2 in the session and fell to 2-4 on the season.
TPC Commissioner Drew Ebanks note:
The Platinum Circuit ventured to La belle province as Montreal’s College Boisbriand hosted the 4th session of the 2022-23 season! It was a great first foray into Quebec for the TPC and the reviews were off the chain as the action was intense and the quality of play top notch. Special thanks to coaches Terry Annilus and David Osmann for facilitating the TPC’s first Quebec session. Safe to say the Platinum stands a very good chance to be back in Montreal in 2023-24!
Check out Player of the Game recipients, photos and video on The Platinum Circuit Instagram page.
The Platinum Circuit standings click HERE.
