By RENALDO DORSETT
Tribune Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
NOBLE Preparatory Academy (NPA) alumni continue to excel on the Canadian basketball scene with a high school duo leading their team to a historic title and a collegiate star honoured for his freshman year.
Shamar Burrows and Livingston Bromwell continue to rewrite the history books as their high school careers continue for the Ridley College Tigers and at the collegiate level, Delroy Grandison received end-of-year honours for his stellar inaugural season for the Niagara College Knights.
Burrows and Bromwell led the Tigers to their first provincial title in school history when they won the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations Class A boys basketball championship on Wednesday night.
The no.2 ranked Tigers defeated the top seeded O’Gorman Knights, 57-46 in the finale on the Knights’ home floor in Chatham.
The Tigers were the lone representative from the Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association in the 16-team field and went undefeated over the course of the three-day event.
The Knights raced to a 12-10 lead after the opening quarter, but the Tigers doubled up the Knights 18-9 in the second and took a 28-21 lead into half time.
They extended the lead to nine points at the end of the third and maintained it throughout the fourth to t win by 11.
Burrows led the way with a game high 18 points while Bromwell finished with 12.
It was the closest game of the tournament for the Tigers, who won by an average margin of victory of 27.8 points per game.
Burrows averaged 21 points per game in the five contests while Bromwell scored 13.8 per game.
In the tournament opener, the Tigers dominated the no.12 seed Pain Court Patriots, 69-26. The Tigers led 24-5 after the first quarter and the rout was on in their most lopsided win of the five games.
Burrows finished with 19 points while Bromwell added 10.
In round two, it was more of the same with a 30-point win over Englehart, 65-35.
The Tigers took a 19-12 lead after the first and led by 18 at the half, 39-21.
Bromwell finished with a game high 18 points and Burrows added 16.
In the quarter-finals, the Tigers defeated the ÉSCEJ Lajeunesse Royals 79-56
Burrows exploded for a tournament high 31 points and Bromwell scored 17.
Burrows’ 21 points and Bromwell’s 12 led Ridley to a 65-33 win over the Kings Christian Cavaliers in the semi-finals.
The Tigers qualified for the OFSAA tournament after an impressive league season in which they finished with the silver medal in the CISAA final. They were defeated for the third time this season by the no.1 ranked school in Canada, St Michael’s College, 76-39.
They were relegated to the qualification round, where they defeated Toronto French School, 54-34, to advance to their ninth OFSAA ‘A’ tournament in school history.
Bromwell became the fifth in the line of NPA students to participate in the exchange programme between the two institutions, which acts as the precursor to the possibility of an athletic scholarship.
Burrows was the beneficiary of a scholarship following the exchange programme. Both players were former members of the Bahamas Basketball Federation’s junior national teams.
Ridley College, in St Catharine’s, Ontario, is one of the leading private boarding and day university preparatory schools in the country. It is one of the oldest private schools in Canada and has the largest boarding programme in Ontario, with students representing over 35 countries.
For Grandison and the Knights, although their playoff run fell short in the Ontario Collegiate Athletics Association (OCAA) playoffs, the freshman forward was recognised by the league with a trio of awards.
He was named the West Division Rookie of the Year, selected as an OCAA Second Team All-Star and named to the OCAA All-Rookie Team.
He finished the season with per game averages of 15.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.1 blocks per game, ranking him in the top 25 in the OCAA in each category.
After winning three games last season, the addition of Grandison, along with fellow Bahamian players Marako Lundy and Tenero Ferguson, helped the Knights rebound from a slow start to rally for an 8-10 win-loss record, six place in the Western conference and earned a spot in the OCAA playoffs.
The connection between NPA and Niagara College continues to produce top flight basketball talent for the Canadian institution and provide Bahamian student athletes with an education.
Geno Bullard is the founder and serves as the president of NPA and is also the international recruiter for the entire Caribbean region for Niagara College.
The NPA has academic ties with Ridley, Niagara and Brock University.
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