Catholic Classic: Phoenix in semifinals; Irish, Reds ousted
The 12th-seeded St. Francis Phoenix advanced to the semifinals of the 45th All-Ontario Catholic Classic Basketball Tournament with a 62-52 victory Friday over the third-seeded St. Benedict Saints from Cambridge.
It was a case of the third time being the charm for the Phoenix.
“This was the third time we played St Benedict. They beat us in both of the previous games, the first by 37 and the second by 15,” St. Francis head coach Jon Marcheterre said. “So getting to see them one more time really gave us a read on how we have improved over the course of the season.”
Marcheterre felt his team’s 12th seeding was correct.
“But we are starting to see the work that we have put in on the defensive end of the floor start to take shape,” he said. “Guys made plays offensively, hit big shots, but it was seeing what we are doing in the defensive half court that makes us proudest.”
Top scorers for the Phoenix were Max Riddell (21), Quinton Duemo (15), Igor M’Baya (8), Cole Carpenter (5) and Sacade Kasamba (5).
Top scorers for St. Benedict were Ben Macarenhas (12) and Aidan Whelan (10).
The Phoenix move on to play second-seeded Jean Vanier from Milton Saturday at 2 p.m. at Denis Morris.
IRISH ELIMINATED
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were in tough Friday in the consolation finals of the 45th All-Ontario Catholic Classic Basketball Tournament at Notre Dame.
After opening the event with a 67-40 loss to second-seeded Jean Vanier from Milton, the Irish were eliminated from the tournament following a 85-35 loss to the Assumption Crusaders from Burlington.
“I thought we played hard but I thought we played a little bit faster than what we wanted to play and we played right into what they wanted us to do,” Irish head coach Mark Gallagher said. “We took shots too early in the shot clock and it allowed them to get into they running game. Once they got up on us, they just piled up on us.”
When the two teams last met, Notre Dame only lost by 12 points.
“I think with it being the second game of the day we were a little bit tired and we got discouraged,” Gallagher said. “We missed some things we would normally make.”
Things snowballed on Notre Dame Friday.
“When they went on their 12-0 runs or whatever it was, we had a couple of chances to score and we didn’t,” he said. “That deflated us a little but and a 12-point run turned into a 20.”
Gallagher is upbeat about his team.
“We do some things well but we are still trying to learn how to do other things that will make us better as a team,” he said. “We are down to one league game left and then it’s the playoffs so we have two weeks to sort of straighten things out.”
He is confident that will happen.
“The kids are working hard at practice and we will get better. We made mistakes today because I think we played faster than we’re capable of playing or ready to play. If we control our pace a little bit better, we will be in control of possession a little bit more.”
There are no soft touches in the Catholic Classic.
“This is about as strong a draw as you could possibly have. It has to be one of the top three or four tournaments in the province this year,” Gallagher said. “If you take a look at the second-round matchups on both sides of the draw, there were tough games everywhere.”
STATS PACK
Crusaders 85 Fighting Irish 35
Johnny Rocco’s/Mick and Angelo’s/Cracker Jacks Player of the Game: Assumption’s Isaiah Myambu with 24 points.
For the Notre Dame Fighting Irish: David Jones 9; Shammar Campbell 8; Brandon Markowski 5.
For the Assumption Crusaders from Burlington: Myambu 24; Lord Anton 19; Ruther Garicia 10.
Up next: The championship semifinals will be played Saturday at 12:30 and 2 p.m. at Denis Morris with the final set for 7 p.m. at Denis Morris following the consolation final at 5:15 p.m.
REDS OUSTED
The Denis Morris Reds were eliminated from the Catholic Classic following losses to Hamilton Cathedral (79-20) and St. Thomas Aquinas from Oakville (63-27).
Dylan Maltby led the Reds against Cathedral with eight points while Maltby and Caruso had seven apiece versus St. Thomas Aquinas.
