Hamilton, Ont — In what will surely go down as one of best finishes in Ontario Federation Schools Athletic Association (OFSAA) basketball history, senior guard Shak Pryce — playing in his final high school game, buried his final shot — an unbelievable “shot of the year” candidate as the Pine Ridge Pumas (Pickering) edged upstart La Salle Black Trojan Knights (Kingston) 51-48 to win the 2019 OFSAA AAA gold medal game.
The previous possession, with the game tied at 48-48 all with 43 seconds remaining — 35-second shot clock winding down and the ball in La Salle’s premier guard Luka Syllas, Pryce determined to end his career as a champion pulled-up his shorts, started clapping and clamped defensively blocking Syllas shot attempt to give the Pumas the ball back with 9.3 seconds remaining via jump ball possession arrow rule.
Coming out of the timeout there was little to no doubt as to who was going to get the last shot, as Pumas’ head coach Cam Nekkers put the ball is senior guard’s hands delivering a magical march madness moment that will be buzzing for decades to come.
The gameplay was interrupted by a deliberate fire alarm nuance, causing a 15-minute delay.
Memories of Devoe Joseph’s final shot, game-winner to the defeat the Eastern Commerce Saints at the buzzer of the 2008 OFSAA AAAA Gold medal come to mind, only this time the trophy is going down south of Brock St. as Pine Ridge becomes the first LOSSA school to earn back-to-back titles of OFSAA’s top division since arch-rivals Pickering Trojans accomplished the feat in 2007-2008.
[totalpoll id=”15003″]
Note:
Whitby’s Anderson C.V.I (LOSSA) featuring Justin Edwards (Maine/Kansas State) and Dyshawn Pierre (Dayton Flyers) won back-to-back AAA gold medals in 2010-2011, however OFSAA was using a four-tiered (level) format with AAAA being the top division. OFSAA, since 2015-16 reverted back to a three-tier competition.
