Irish ousted, DM advances to consolation semifinals
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish senior boys basketball team was in tough Friday night in the championship quarter-finals of the 48th Annual All-Ontario Catholic Classic.
After winning their opening game, the Irish came up against top-seeded Holy Names Knights from Windsor and ended up on the wrong side of a 83-48 score.
“Sometimes when you play in these tournaments and you get that first win, the second game becomes a little harder because you gave so much in that first win,” Notre Dame head coach Andy Lucchetta said. “I think we came out a bit deflated and lacked the energy that we had the first game.”
That was not a good recipe for success matching up against the top-ranked team in the tournament.
“They are an excellent team.They are so well-disciplined, they have 10 guys who can go on and off the floor and they don’t miss a beat,” he said. “We just don’t have the size to match up and we got totally killed on the boards. They would get three or four offensive boards in a row and when you’re not boxing out and being more physical because you are under-sized, you are going to lose.”
The Irish will take the lessons learned in the game and move on.
“We have some big games coming up and it gives us an idea what it is like to play against high-calibre teams that potentially could go to OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations),” Lucchetta said. “Holy Names is a bronze medalist from last year and they returned everyone except one guy. You could see what the quality was like. For our guys, that is a baptism and almost a lesson to learn. This is what it takes to beat the best teams in the province.”
Scoring for the Irish were: Trent Groulx 14; Will Benko 9; David Babalola 6; Kurt Augustin 6; Aiden Lucchetta 5; Anthony Ventresca 3; V. Rawther 2; Re’O Damus 2; and Sean Paul Imosikeme 1.
Top scorers for Holy Names were: Arlind Avdo 15; Austin Brown 15; and, Cole Loewenberg 13.
IRISH 63 KNIGHTS 41
In the battle of Notre Dames Friday afternoon, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish recorded a 63-41 triumph over the Notre Dame Knights from Brampton.
“We came out with a lot of high energy, we played extremely well defensively and we were able to score often in transition,” Andy Lucchetta said. “We got out to an early 18-0 lead and we never looked back. It was probably one of the best games we played all year, both offensively and defensively.”
Scoring for the Fighting Irish were: Aiden Lucchetta 21; Kurt Agustin 13; Trent Groulx 11; Will Benko 10; David Babalola 5; Re’o Damus 2; and, Haider 1.
Top scorers for the Knights were: Tafari Harrison 9; and, Delano Sang 7.
The championship semifinals will be played Saturday at 12:30 p.m.and 2 p.m. at Denis Morris with the winners advancing the championship final at 7:30 p.m.
REDS 56 BULLDOGS 52
The host Denis Morris Reds advanced to the Classic consolation semifinals with a 56-52 victory over the St. Andre Bessette Bulldogs from London.
“We shot the ball particularly well from the three-point line. Our ability to penetrate and kick to the open man was on point for the entire game,” DM head coach Wade Pychel said. “Luckily, we made big shots down the stretch and got some key stops to walk away with the win.”
Scoring for the Reds were: London Perdue 19; Cole Kelly 16; Travis Palmer 10; Bishop Austin 8; and, Jack Millar 2.
Leading scorers for the Bulldogs were: Owen Shoemaker 18; Anton Mitchell 16; and, Ben Shoemaker 8.
RAVENS 70 REDS 58
The Denis Morris Reds began the Classic Friday morning in their home gym with a 70-58 setback at the hands of the St. Roch Ravens from Brampton.
Scoring for the Reds were: London Perdue 23; Bishop Austin 12; Travis Palmer 8; Cole Kelly 8; Sebastian Aguirre 5; and, Jack Millar 2.
Leading scorers for the Ravens were: Kaleb Williams 21; D’Andre Charles 13; Amari Germaine 12; and, Javon Kidd-Isaacs 10.
The consolation semifinals will be played Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. at Denis Morris with the winners advancing the consolation final at 6 p.m. The Reds play at 11 a.m.
