Mustangs edge Patriots; Flyers dominate Lynx
The Saint Michael Mustangs and Saint Paul Patriots opened the 66th Annual Welland Tribune Basketball Tournament Wednesday in dramatic fashion.
Tied 36-36 with 4:41 left in the game, the game was tied three more times before the Mustangs scored the game’s last four points in the final 32.2 seconds to record a 46-42 triumph.
“We started out really slow and finally we got back into it in the third quarter,” Saint Mike’s head coach Keith Bomberry said. “I know Saint Paul had a good second quarter. They were pretty physical, grabbing most of the offensive rebounds and got some easy shots. But credit to my guys. We battled back and we found ways to get a stop, come down and get a quick score and another stop and we started looking in to Arwin (Chima). And then Devon Devost’s play at the end gave us the momentum to finish the game off.”
Chima scored 12 of his game-high 14 points and was named the Mustangs’ player of the game for his efforts.
“Arwin is just a pleasure to coach. He is learning everything every day and he’s getting better. He is dribbling the ball up the court, he is breaking the press and he is putting together a full arsenal of moves in the post and on the outside.” Bomberry said. “He is a kid we want here long term and we want to see him continue to grow as a Mustang”.
The 16-year-old loves representing his school.
“Since last year coming back from COVID, it was awhile since I played and it was nice to get back and help out my team,” the Grade 11 student said.
The Niagara Falls Red Raiders travel player is a big fan of his high school team.
“I love all our players and the energy that we bring to the floor,” the 6-foot-4 player said. “It feels great to be back because we got delayed for awhile. It was rough because it sucks to lose a season.”
He likes his team’s chances moving forward in the Tribune tourney.
“I think we have a chance to go all the way if we play like this every game. We have the players, we have the height, we have everything.”
Bomberry is thrilled with the return of the Trib tourney after a two-year absence.
“We have been in this tournament for years and we have had moderate success getting into the winner’s bracket a few times,” he said. “We look forward to it because we know we are going to play good competition. There are great teams in this tournament and the guys really want to play up. We are looking forward to playing the next game.”
On Wednesday, the Patriots looked like a team that was playing its first game after the Christmas break.
“That’s exactly what it was,” Saint Paul coach Michael Doodeman said. “It was one of those games where we were off.”
It was definitely an off-performance for Saint Paul.
“We have a good team and quite a bit of talent but we didn’t show that today,” he said. “Clearly consistency is an issue.”
STATS PACK
Mustangs 46 Patriots 42
Mountainview Building Group Players of the Game: Saint Paul’s Joey Primerano-Williams and Saint Michael’s Arwin Chima.
For the Saint Michael Mustangs: Arwin Chima 14; Hagen Generao 8; Luka Dermott 8; Devon Devost 7; Audley Gardener 7; Nich Karagiannis 2;
For the Saint Paul Patriots: Joey Primerano-Williams 10; Mateo Canakis 9; Shomari Hill 7; Carter Yott 5; Dante De Benedetti 4; Isaac Jordan 3; Matthew Murray 2; and, Charlie McCamley 1.
FLYERS 93 LYNX 21
Eden’s player of the game VJ Phillips netted 17 points to lead the Flyers to a 93-21 victory over the host Saint-Jean-de-Brebeuf Lynx Wednesday in first-round action at the Tribune tournament.
Also scoring for the Flyers were Chad Thorpe 14; Caleb Stewart 12; . Luke Johnson 12; Maxim Tywoniuk 9; Rhys Weinart 8; Connor Witt 8; Edson Sanecki 5; Kai Schatz 2; and, Luke Midgley 2.
The Lynx’s player if the game was Daniel Charest with nine points.
Also scoring for Brebeuf were: Mac Toge 6; Adian Astudillo 3; Isaak Martinez-Richer 2; and, Dawson Battersby 1.
