{"id":35868,"date":"2025-02-20T13:55:25","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T18:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=35868"},"modified":"2025-02-20T13:55:27","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T18:55:27","slug":"celtics-ousted-from-yraa-playoffs-in-51-49-loss-to-middlefield-silver-hawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/celtics-ousted-from-yraa-playoffs-in-51-49-loss-to-middlefield-silver-hawks\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtics ousted from YRAA playoffs in 51-49 loss to Middlefield Silver Hawks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Cardinal Carter Celtics Senior Boys Basketball team celebrated the thrill of victory sixteen times this season.&nbsp; However, the 16-3 powerhouse experienced the agony of defeat in a sudden-death opening round playoff loss on home court last Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The stunning 51-49 upset at the hands of the Middlefield C.I. Silver Hawks ended the season for the heavily-favored, veteran-laden Celtics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sadly, the Celtics were not able to replicate the Dr. G.W. Williams Wildcats\u2019 \u201cCinderella Story\u201d from 2024. The Wildcats captured their first YRAA Senior Boys Tier 1 championship with a \u201cunicorn team\u201d and fared well at its inaugural provincial championships by winning four of five games en-route to the Ontario Consolation Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Celtics Head Coach Zach Zapanta, whose squad defeated the defending champion Wildcats 73-50 in their only meeting this season, was gracious in defeat and gave credit to the Silver Hawks for \u201ctaking advantage of their size\u201d and \u201cfor running down the clock and scoring on key possessions in the second half.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Coach Zapanta praised his veteran team for their efforts throughout the Celtics\u2019 16-4 season and pointed to Carter\u2019s \u201ctournament win at Bur Oak as the highlight of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Celtics led 12-9 after the first quarter but the visitors drew even at half time with the teams deadlocked at 26-26. The Silver Hawks took at 42-35 lead after three quarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carter furnished a furious comeback in the waning minutes of the game, but came up agonizingly short when they threw the ball out of bounds with 1.6 seconds left on the clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Silver Hawks\u2019 small forward Abdulle Musa slashed his way through the Celtics\u2019 zone and led all scorers with 17 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Power forward Thavanesoan Labishan provided Middlefield with a steady inside game off the blocks and added 12 points to his team\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Guards Awan Hadd and Ajil Basra scored 10 each to provide balance to Middlefield\u2019s offence, including three critical 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to thwart the Celtics\u2019 comeback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veterans Noah Wetzel and Peter George led the Celtics with 14 and 13 points, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shooting guard Athan Babalis contributed 10 points to Carter\u2019s offense that suffered through an uncharacteristically-weak shooting performance. The Celtics missed putting away their opponent from Markham when they carried the play for most of the first half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although the Celtics\u2019 YRAA season came to a shocking end on Thursday night, Coach Zapanta noted that the team is \u201clooking forward to competing in the Battle of Aurora tournament hosted by Aurora High School on February 27.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The annual event features Aurora\u2019s four senior boys basketball teams \u2014the Cardinal Carter Celtics, Williams Wildcats, St. Maximilian Kolbe Mustangs, and Aurora HS Golden Eagles\u2014in a round-robin tourney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Jim Stewart<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n<a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F35868&amp;t=Celtics%20ousted%20from%20YRAA%20playoffs%20in%2051-49%20loss%20to%20Middlefield%20Silver%20Hawks&amp;s=100&amp;p[url]=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F35868&amp;p[images][0]=&amp;p[title]=Celtics%20ousted%20from%20YRAA%20playoffs%20in%2051-49%20loss%20to%20Middlefield%20Silver%20Hawks\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F35868&amp;text=Like%3F\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Celtics%20ousted%20from%20YRAA%20playoffs%20in%2051-49%20loss%20to%20Middlefield%20Silver%20Hawks&amp;body=Like%3F:%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F35868\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Cardinal Carter Celtics Senior Boys Basketball team celebrated the thrill of victory sixteen times this season.&nbsp; However, the 16-3 powerhouse experienced the agony of defeat in a sudden-death opening round playoff loss on home court last Thursday afternoon. The stunning 51-49 upset at the hands of the Middlefield C.I. Silver Hawks ended the season [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[24,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-sports","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9kw","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-10 04:17:28","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35868"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35869,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35868\/revisions\/35869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}