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In an entertaining final, Blue Devils ignite to win Huron-Perth hoops title

Mitchell Blue Devils overcame a nine point halftime deficit, hitting clutch shots in the second half as they won the Huron-Perth senior boy's basketball crown on their home court
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Blake Redfern of the Mitchell Blue Devils takes it to the hoop against a Stratford Golden Bears defender in the Huron-Perth senior boy's basketball final on Wednesday afternoon.

A second half surge powered the Mitchell Blue Devils to the Huron-Perth senior boy's basketball championship on Wednesday, capping an undefeated regular season in front of a big home crowd with their first conference title since 2020. 

Blake Redfern scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half, leading the Blue Devils to a 64-54 win over Stratford DSS Golden Bears.

"We had a conversation at halftime in our dressing room," Redfern, a Grade 11 guard said after the win. " We all just took a deep breath and we kind of figured it out."

The Blue Devils certainly had to do adjust after the Golden Bears took a nine point lead into the break, led by a shooting clinic from Charlie Kuepfer. The Golden Bears best player on the day had 22 points in the first half, including four three pointers, pacing Stratford to a 34-25 lead after two quarters. 

"They were hot out of the gate," Blue Devils coach A.J. Moses said. "They are well coached by Chris Cassone. I knew they would have a different game plan from the last time we played (a Blue Devils regular season win)."

"It is what I preached: attitude, effort, up by three mentality. We didn't do anything pretty. It was effort, what we have done all year."

The Blue Devils had trouble getting the ball inside to their bigs, including Will Korver, who had just four points in the first half but contributed 14 points after the break. Mitchell eventually found some patience and worked the ball around, running their offence and getting better looks. 

Conversely, the Golden Bears manged just five points in the third quarter and the Mitchell defence held Kuepfer to three points, on free throws, in the final 16 minutes.

"He is phenomenal, one of the best shooters in the conference," Moses said of the Golden Bears player.  "We changed our defence around, from man-to-man, some 2-3 zone, some 1-2-1, full-court press, just to give them a different look." 

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Charlie Kuepfer goes up for a jumper. Paul Cluff/StratfordToday

Golden Bears forward Kabir Singh had 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, a final push in a spirited battle under the basket with the Blue Devils forwards. Singh had to leave the game in the final minutes after he lost his contact lenses in a battle for a rebound.

Cassone said Singh is also a good outside shooter but the team has worked hard to establish an inside presence throughout the year. 

"We try to play (Singh) inside-out. We have struggled with the inside game this year. Charlie did a good job finding Kamir rolling to the net. The two of them have a lot of chemistry on the court."

Kayden Vosper, who had 15 points, hit a pair of big three point shots for the Blue Devils in the fourth quarter. The starting guard sat out the entire third quarter after getting into foul trouble.

The Golden Bears stuck around and made a run in the fourth quarter: it was tied 54-54 with 1:42 remaining but Korver and Redfern each hit a pair of free throws and Vosper tossed a perfect alley-oop to Korver for a lay-up to push the lead to six with about a minute remaining. 

"They really carried that third quarter," Cassone said. "They gave us some troubles. They hit some tough shots." 

Korver said the Blue Devils have learned lessons from their coach about playing for the moment and executing.

"Basketball is a huge mental game. We just had confidence in our teammates, we knew we could do it."

The season is not over for the Golden Bears. Stratford DSS qualify as the Huron-Perth entry for the WOSSAA 'AAA' tournament in London. Teams competing include St. Thomas Parkside and London schools Banting and Saint Andre Bessette, the latter will take on the Golden Bears. That tournament is on Monday.

The Golden Bears coach said his team will have their work cut out for them against two strong London teams. 

Cassone said the goal was to win Huron-Perth but the coach focused on development. The Golden Bears played probably their best game of the year in a 61-37 conference semifinal win over F.E. Madill last week and they manged to beat a top team from Brantford in a recent Woodstock tournament. 

“They just really learned how to play basketball this year. I am really happy with the growth.” 

The Blue Devils had qualified for the WOSSAA 'A' tournament regardless of the outcome. They will face London Holy Cross on Friday. Westminster will play host Woodstock C.I.

"We are coming into it strong, after this win we have confidence and we are excited to go, excited to compete," said Redfern. 

Added Korver: "This win puts it together for us, gives us a lot of energy for (WOSSAA)."

Moses said Woodstock C.I. is the team to beat but anything could happen if the Blue Devils play as well as they did in the Huron-Perth final. The WOSSAA winner moves on to the OFSAA 'A' championships in Timmins. 

"I didn't know what to expect at the beginning of the year. I have had better offensive teams but no team that works this hard." 

The Blue Devils 2020 conference title ended a 36-year drought. In 1984, legendary coach Lew Anjema led the Blue Devils to the conference title en route to the provincial basketball championship. 

Anjema was in the gym on Wednesday with the blue and white-clad crowd for the latest Blue Devils title and gave Moses a big hug. Angema, in fact, coached Moses when he played basketball for the Blue Devils. 

"He is the legend, the gym is named after him. I am just trying to fill his shoes." 

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Mitchell DHS Blue Devils are the 2023 Huron-Perth senior boy's basketball champions. Paul Cluff/StratfordToday