Centre Dufferin Royals’ junior team competes in District 4 championship

Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

The Centre Dufferin District High School Royals junior boys basketball team competed in the District 4 championship game on their home court on Tuesday, March 3.

The Royals faced the Erin District High School Raiders in the final game.

They were the two top teams in the District this season, setting up a very competitive final game.

The teams had identical 7-1 records in the regular season.

Centre Dufferin eliminated Wellington Heights Secondary School in the semi-final round of the playoffs.

Erin dispatched Westside Secondary School from Orangeville in their semi-final game.

In the final game, the first half saw the teams trade hoops. The game was tied 12-12 in the first minute of the second quarter.

At the half, Erin had a two-point lead, with 22-20 on the scoreboard.

The Raiders pulled ahead in the third quarter, and when the buzzer sounded, the Erin team led 34-27.

The Royals put out a good effort in the final quarter, but they just couldn't sink the baskets they needed to close the scoring gap.

The final score was 46-38 for the Erin team, who claimed the 2026 District 4 championship.

Despite the loss, the Royals' players thought they put out a good effort against a strong team in the final game.

“I think it was a good season that ended badly,” said Royals forward Charlie French after the game. “I do think we could have done better, but it is, what it is. On offence, we did a good job of getting to the basket, we didn't have too many turnovers. Our defence was good in this game, we were forced turn-overs, and played a good defence.”

Teammate Sam Verduin said he thought the team put out a good effort this year.

“I think our regular season was really good,” Sam said. “We came to compete and did our job, we just came up a little short in the playoffs. Today, I think on offence we did a good job of not giving up the ball. On defence we did really well cutting off passing lanes to make sure they couldn't move the ball easily.”

As a junior team, the players still have two or three seasons of high school basketball ahead of them, and players are already looking forward to next year.

The Erin team will now go on to compete at the regional level at CWOSSA.