Rookie leads Bulldogs into Tribune final
Sir Winston Churchill head coach Martin Cook hasn’t been surprised by the play of Matteo Scaglione this season.
“I could not be more proud of him,” Cook said, moments after Scaglione netted 16 points to lead the Bulldogs basketball team to a hard-fought 53-48 victory over the EL. Crossley Cyclone Friday night in the championship semifinals of the 66th Annual Welland Tribune Basketball Tournament at Notre Dame.
“I have coached him since he was in about Grade 3 or 4 so I have seen his development right from being a little guy up until now. He is a big, 6-foot-3 guy who can play all sorts of positions for us and he is a really humble kid.”
His temperament rubs off on his fellow Bulldogs.
“He sets a really good example for his teammates and like he showed today, he can play too.”
Cook feels the Grade 11 player has adjusted well to his first year of senior ball.
“I think his biggest step is realizing he has a lot of skill and he just needed to realize the potential he has had for years,” he said. “It is finally coming out and he is shooting the ball really well, he can handle the ball and I trust him. He has matured a lot.”
The 16-year-old agreed it had been a step up to play senior ball.
“It has been pretty big but I played CYBL (Canadian Youth Basketball League) over the summer and that was a big step for me,” Scaglione said. “It was really important and it helped get me get ready for the next level and playing against bigger, stronger and faster players.”
In addition to adjusting to senior ball, he needed to find his niche with the Bulldogs.
“At the start of the season it was just finding what my role was and where they needed me on the team,” he said. “I just try to do whatever the team needs to win.”
His 16 points and all-around play were needed Friday to get past the Cyclone.
“It was a little too close for my liking but it was a tough fight and we made it through. I am happy my team got through it.”
Scaglione played his travel ball last season with Niagara United but he is just focusing on school ball this season.
“It helps me a lot. I am not busy after school so I can go to school practice, work out and then go do my homework.”
The Cyclone did their homework and gave the Bulldogs all they could handle in a rematch of the Standard semifinals where the Bulldogs won 63-47.
Crossley led 15-14 after one quarter, 31-27 at the half and 43-42 after three quarters before the Bulldogs rallied for the victory.
“It was a great game. We were in it right until the last three minutes and we just ran out of gas,” Cyclone head coach Brian Bleich said. “They made some shots on us and we took a bit of a gamble but we played great defence the whole game.”
Crossley had enough open looks in the fourth quarter to record the win but its shots didn’t fall.
“Our guys played tough all game and they were a little tired and they came up a little short on their shots,” he said.
The game was a lot closer than the Standard semifinal.
“I think our defence was a lot more intense that at the Standard,” Bleich said. “We played tough defence here and we went at them. Also on offence we took the ball to the basket instead of trying to shoot all threes. We didn’t score many threes but we got to the basket and drew some fouls.”
Cook agreed the Cyclone were better at the Trib tourney.
“Hats off to Crossley. They played a great game, they were excellent defensively and they really kept us in check,” he said. “They obviously had a plan and it worked. We had a hard time with it.”
After winning their first Standard title since 1968, the Bulldogs will be looking to win their first-ever Tribune championship crown after winning consolation titles in 2001 and 2012. Churchill is also looking to become the first school to win Standard and Tribune titles in the same school year since the Notre Dame Fighting Irish did it in 2004-05.
“We have to play better, I will say that, we have to shoot better and we have to do everything a little bit better,” Cook said. “We have a good idea of what we want to do against them (Eden) and we just have to execute it.”
STATS PACK
BULLDOGS 53 CYCLONE 48
Mountainview Building Group Players of the Game: Churchill’s Bennett Pisek and Crossley’s Matthew Kleinsmith.
For the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs: Matteo Scaglione 16; Mazen Yagubi 12; Brady Pupek 11; Bennett Pisek 7; Will McAlpine 3; Quinn Johnston 2; and Mujeeb Omar 2.
For the E.L. Crossley Cyclone: Matthew Kleinsmith 15; Sam Jeffery 14; Aakash Senthil 7; Luca Burattini 6; and, Connor Bleich 6.
Up next: Churchill advances to play Eden in the championship game Saturday at 7 p.m. at Notre Dame
