It was only after appealing their placement in Division 11 of the OBL (Ontario Basketball League) rankings that the Sudbury U13 Storm boys were bumped up three full brackets by the provincial body.

Thankfully, the locals made Basketball Ontario officials look good, enjoying an extremely competitive weekend at the all-Ontario Division 8 championships last weekend.

Any doubt of the legitimacy of their presence in this grouping was laid to rest early as Sudbury bounced HOF Hustle from Bradford / Newmarket 64-26, with every single player on the roster hitting the scoresheet and Rohan Saidi-Smith leading the way with 10 points.

Finding the looks they wanted in game two, the Storm could simply not get the ball to fall when they needed it to, beaten 51-43 by the East York Eagles as Ridge Maskevich topped the scoresheet for the GSBA representatives with an eight-point effort.

Game three was ripe with frustration as the U13 Storm side met up with IEM Richmond Hill, an opponent that they had squeezed past recently thanks to a buzzer-beater basket.

This time around, fouls became the defining factor as IEM went 13/24 from the foul line (versus 1/2 for the Storm), that margin paving the way to a 34-29 victory for the Richmond Hill crew, with the winner moving on to play in the bronze medal affair.

Converting on just an uncharacteristically low total of two three-point baskets, the northern squad looked to Tejeda Gieselman (9 pts) and Sawyer Kerr (6) to spark the offense, when needed.

Their energy sapped by that loss, the Storm took a while to find their traction in the showdown for fifth place, trailing the Collingwood Trailblazers 24-18 at the half and 31-23 heading to the final quarter of play.

A key defensive switch, a few adjustments defensively and a huge lift from David Olili would cue the Sudbury comeback. Even after Olili fouled out, the lineup of Sawyer Kerr, Mason Kamuntu, Ridge Maskevich, Nehemiah Esmie and Mérick Nadeau (11 points - seven in the fourth quarter) completed the task at hand as the Storm overtook the Trailblazers 40-33 thanks to an incredible 17-2 run.

Rounding out the roster for the team that posted an overall record of 26-5 were Reid Manella, Niyam Patel, Médric Raymond, Logan Martikkala, coaches Martin Nadeau, Claire Gieselman and Kevan Saidi and team manager Danielle Paquette-Raymond.