It was just the luck of the draw for the Lo-Ellen Park Knights senior boys basketball team this year at OFSAA.

And just to clarify, we mean "bad luck" of the draw.

After posting back to back wins at the OFSAA "AA" Championships last week in North Bay, the Knights would draw the eventual gold medal winning Sir Allan McNab Lions in quarter-final play.

While the fourth seeded Knights would fall 77-65 to the tournament fifth seed, it should be noted that McNab would then defeat both the #1 seed in the semis (78-57) and the #2 seed in the finals (76-58) by far more comfortable margins.

"The guys battled hard right to the end," noted Knights head coach Mac Bertrand. "Adam (Scott) was an absolute warrior on the boards and Quin (Mazzuchin) was passing the ball great, finding open shooters and scoring as well."

Sure, it is "ifs" and "buts" - but it sure seemed like Lo-Ellen may have been the second best team in the entire tournament - only to fall short of cracking the final four.

"I would say that overall, we were really happy with how we did," said Bertrand. "Going to OFSAA boys basketball and winning your first two games is not easy."

Lo-Ellen looked rock solid in their opening encounter, bouncing the Westgate Tigers from Thunder Bay, 76-53, before upending the Regina Mundi Titans from London, 69-57, in working their way through to a top-eight matchup.

Trailing 37-33 at the half versus the Titans, Lo-Ellen re-discovered the balanced attack that has been their calling card for much of the year after an opening half in which Mazzuchin was leaned upon heavily.

"I can't help thinking about how selfless our team became this year," said Bertrand. "The guys really do not care about stats. They care about each other and celebrate each other's success."

With a starting rotation that also features Hunter Laplante, Will Church and Brayden Legendre - and a nice mix of talent off the bench - the Knights had plenty of support for their one-two punch (Scott and Mazzuchin) at OFSAA.

"Quin was absolutely one of the best players in the whole tournament," said Bertrand. "There were maybe a handful of guys on his level. We would love to have him back to have another crack at it - but we are going to be good next year, regardless."

The Knights finished the year with a record of 30-6 and lost only three games to "AA" schools all year - all of whom went on to win a medal at OFSAA.

Rounding out the Lo-Ellen roster are Noah Skrobot, Kobi Elendu, Joel Ankomah, Mishal Olanrewaju, Anderson Parent, Ethan Farrugia, Michael Seccaspina and assistant coaches Mike Scott and Carter Benson.