Pittao knocks down ‘six-seven’ treys in 73-62 senior boys hoops victory

Tillsonburg’s Kypton Lofthouse elevates down the lane en route to the Dorchester Beavers basket. (Jeff Tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Post Correspondent

Not only can the Tillsonburg Gemini senior boys’ basketball backcourt knock down outside shots, they can also collectively jump on an opportunity to work a little urban slang into the conversation.

The question had been, how many three-point field goals had Kaden Pittao scored through a 73-62 Thames Valley Regional Athletics Southeast victory over the Lord Dorchester Beavers?

“Six… seven?” he responded.

“Hey!” teammate Gavin Wernham interjected. “Six-seven!”

And unlike eye-rolling grandchildren, they had the grace to smile tolerantly when the guy holding the notepad added the palms up, alternately raised and lowered hand gestures to accompany the saying.

Pittao, Wernham and the rest of the Gemini had reason for good humour after an entertaining regular-season-closing win Monday, Jan. 13th in Glendale’s Community Gym, one carrying playoff implications. The victory moved Tillsonburg’s record to 5-3, fourth place in final TVRA Southeast standings. Rather than facing a play-in game, the Gemini earned a homecourt quarter-final against Woodstock Huron Park Tuesday, Feb. 10, tipping off at 3 p.m.

Tillsonburg entered the Dorchester game short-handed, missing Sean Krahn, Jordan McCormick and Nolan Prefontaine, a trio representing a measure of its inside presence. The Gemini compensated from the outside, Pittao knocking down his first of an eventual six treys early on. He had asked what the play was, and failing to receive an answer, simply turned and hit from outside. The ‘shoot’ gameplan continued, Grade 9 call-up Cameron James draining his first of two long range bombs after being encouraged to do so by Wernham.

“He’s a baller,” credited Kypton Lofthouse, supporting the decision.

Pittao had three treys in the opening eight minutes, James a fourth as Tillsonburg, opening with a 7-0 run, exited with a 22-14 lead. Dorchester came at the Gemini with full-court pressure, backing up a ‘taller and wider’ advantage under the basket.

“That was a gritty game,” said Lofthouse, who co-led a ‘circle the wagons’ approach on the defensive end alongside Jacob Mogg, every player working to box out and board. “Had to deny the lane and had to grind,” Lofthouse added. “It was a battle.”

Pittao, James and Mogg each contributed a second-quarter three-pointer to a 41-29 halftime lead. Wernham opened the second half with a strong drive to the basket and Tillsonburg led 56-43 heading home, going up by 16, 59-43 on a Mogg free throw with 6:28 to play.

The Beavers weren’t about to concede, cutting the gap to ten and then eight with 2:30 left on an old-school three-point play following a blocking call on James. Twenty-three seconds later, Dorchester’s K. Greenfield pulled the Beavers within five (65-60) on the first of two free throws. He front-rimmed the second, and in a game highlighted by new-era long-range shooting, Gemini Om Vyas’ basic fundamental of boxing out the shooter would prove critical. Vyas pulled down the rebound, moved the ball upcourt and saw it work through his hands to Wernham, who restored a measure of comfort and shifted momentum with his team’s eleventh and final trey of the game. A Lofthouse lay-in restored a double-digit gap with 52.4 seconds left, and time ran out on a competitive and crucial Gemini victory.

“We didn’t want it, we needed it,” said Pittao.

“Now we get a home game,” Lofthouse added. “Hopefully a home buyout game.”

Pittao led the Gemini offensively with 20 points, Mogg added 17, Lofthouse, displaying a strong midrange game, had 16, Wernham 11 and James eight. W. Downing had 22 for the Beavers, M. Faulkner 21 and L. Zdiznik 10.

“A good battle, a good battle,” summed up Gemini coach Terry Coulthard. “I just like to see them work hard and try to execute what we work on in practice.”

The junior Gemini closed out their regular season with a comfortable win over the Beavers in the opener, recorded on the TVRA Southeast scoreboard as a 48-28 decision.

“We’ve definitely gotten better since the start of the season,” said James following the juniors’ third win against five losses.

“I feel like we’re more patient on our plays,” added James Strathearn, adding ‘better passes and fast breaking’ as other areas of improvement.

Tillsonburg will host their Huron Park junior counterparts Tuesday, February 10th in a seven versus ten play-in game tipping off following the senior contest. The winner advances to a Thursday, February 12 road trip to St. Thomas Parkside to take on the second-place, 7-1 Stampeders.

“It’s going to be a tough fight, we’re going to have to play as a team to move on,” Strathearn concluded.