The Humber Hawks put on a defensive master class against the Algonquin Wolves Sunday afternoon, beating the Wolves 98-67 and advancing to the OCAA Semi-Finals.
The Hawks’ defence, which was the league's best all season long, continued to shine in its quarter-final matchup despite the physicality Algonquin brought to the game.
“I thought we met it, the physicality that they brought, and I thought we brought even more,” Hawks head coach Omar Miles said.
Miles credited the Hawks’ mental toughness to their success in overcoming the physical play from the Wolves.
“Part of it is being mentally tough,” he said. “When they’re pushing, shoving, maybe being dirty, we have to be ready for that, and we have to keep our composure, and I thought we did an excellent job doing that.”
The Hawks used their defensive performance to create opportunities and frustrate the Wolves’ attack, with the Hawks finishing the game with 24 steals to their opponent's eight.
Humber was also able to convert on turnovers from the Wolves, with 25 of the Hawks’ points coming off turnovers.
Despite the defensive prowess on display, first-year Hawks guard DJ Burke said nothing much changed from their approach at the beginning of the season to now being in a playoff scenario.
“We just lock in a little bit more, guard those gaps a little bit more, and that’s really our game,” Burke said. “Going into the game, having that physical mentality definitely puts us on the better edge of the basketball and defence-wise.”
Miles said the scouting and team defence approach continues to contribute to their success, especially as things get tight in the playoffs.
“When you have a whole week to scout one team, it’s a lot easier. And when they have two elite players that take those shots, it becomes easier for a team to play team defence,” Miles said.
Coming off of being named to the OCAA’s all-rookie team, Burke showed why he deserved the accolade on Sunday, scoring a personal season-high 16 points and showing defensive prowess with four steals.
“He’s a 6-4 guard that can guard one, two, three, four, five,” Miles said. “He’s fallen into that role quite nicely, and he’s our defensive stopper, and he’s a presence, and we need presence,”
“I don’t need his scoring, I need his defence, so scoring is a bonus for us,” Miles said.
The Hawks now shift their focus to the OCAA championships this weekend, which Humber is hosting thanks to Sunday’s win, and the goal is clear for this group.
Back-to-back.
And even with the added pressure of hosting the championship weekend, Miles said the preparation and mentality stays the same.
“We have a week to prepare, see who their guys are, how we can disrupt, defend, score, and make it very difficult for them coming into our place,” Miles said.
“I think the advantage is playing at home with our crowd, but also our defence has been really good all year round. We’re going to hang our hats on our defence,” Miles said.
Burke echoed Miles’ statement, while also showing excitement for his first ever championship weekend, something the team has had as a goal all season.
“The main motto is we want to win the OCs at home and we want to host the OCs,” Burke said. “It’s been an amazing first year to have that environment behind us, we worked all season for it. It’s going to be really good.”
The Hawks look to continue their dominance this weekend defending their crown as they host the OCAA championships, with their semi-finals matchup with the Georgian Grizzlies scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
