A Classic crowd for DM; Reds reach consolation semis

Friday’s opening game of the Ontario Catholic Classic Basketball Tournament was a memorable one for Cam Hastings and his Denis Morris Reds teammates.

Denis Morris ended up dropping a 57-41 decision to the second-seeded Hamilton Cathedral Gaels but it will be the atmosphere and not the final score that the Reds will remember for years to come.

The stands were full of Denis Morris students wearing red hoodies and they made a lot of noise in support of their team. Nothing was louder than when they stomped their feet in the stands and yelled while Cathedral attempted to score from the free throw line.

“All I could hear was screaming and yelling. It was the home crowd and it was fun,” Hastings said. “We don’t really have many of those games and every time we scored everyone was cheering and yelling. It would have been nice to come away with the win but it was really nice.”

The 17-year-old, Grade 12 agreed it was the loudest crowd he had ever played in front off and he admitted it produced a few jitters.

“I was pretty nervous before the game but as shots started falling I started feeling better about playing in front of the crowd. And I had my teammates cheering me on.”

After a two-year COVID break, Hastings was excited about his first chance to play in the Catholic Classic.

“It is also our first home tournament and we have only played in three home games this year. It was great to play in front of that crowd.”

The Catholic Classic is a big deal.

“It is one of the most important tournaments and it is our home tournament too,” he said. “We are playing tough teams and there are a few teams in this tournament it would have been good to play against, to see how they play and to see if we could beat them.”

Hastings carries a big load for the Reds.

“I ask Cam to do everything,” Reds head coach Wade Pychel said. “He’s the point guard, he is one of our premier scorers and he does a lot of stuff that players in our league can’t do, whether it is breaking the press, hitting threes, making fouls shots and playing hard defence. He is our go to guy.”

The 5-foot-11 guard knows what he has to do.

“I’m in Grade 12 and I am the PG (point guard) and he looks at me to carry a lot of responsibility. When you play in front of crowds like this and emotions get ahead of people, especially the younger guys, I have to keep everyone calm.”

He is fine in a leadership role.

“It can be a little nervous but I am comfortable with it and it is fun too.”

The Reds gave the Crusaders all they could handle and only trailed 36-33 at the midway point of the third quarter. But a six-minute scoring drought that stretched until 6:14 left in the final quarter sealed Denis Morris’ fate.

“The atmosphere helped us and the shots were falling in the first half and I am proud of the effort,” Pychel said. “We had a little bit of a defensive lapse in the third quarter that set us back a bit but all in all I am really happy with the opening game that we had.”

The scoring drought also didn’t help.

“Offensively against a team like Cathedral, you cannot have stagnant moments,” Pychel said. “You always have to be pushing the ball and if you are not getting back on defence, they are going to make you pay for it in the transition game.”

Hastings and Josh Kaufman led the Reds with 13 points. Michael Ukiomogbe added 11 and Owen Miller netted two. The Cathedral side of the scoresheet was incomplete.

REDS 60 CRUSADERS 57

Josh Kaufman drained seven threes and scored 27 points to power the Denis Morris Reds to a 60-57 victory over the Assumption (Burlington) Crusaders in consolation quarter-final play Friday at the Classic.

“Today was a solid team win on both offence and defence. We were able to get timely shooting and stops on D when it mattered most,” Pychel said. 

Also scoring for the Reds were Michael Ukiomogbe (17), Cam Hastings (13) and Tyson Mechelse (3).

The Lions were led by Michael Omoseni (21), Odis Downey (13), Sam Hardy (11) and Joshua Searle (10).

The Reds play Assumption Brantford in the consolation semifinals Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at Denis Morris.