Phoenix add to OFSAA medal collection
The Saint Francis Phoenix senior boys basketball program added to its impressive resume with a bronze medal Wednesday at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations AA championships in Ottawa.
Saint Francis has been to OFSAA 18 of the past 22 years, and the team has 11 provincial medals in the past 13 years, including two golds, four silvers and five bronzes.
The Phoenix rebounded from a 65-62 loss to fifth-seeded Ashbury in the semifinals by defeating sixth-seeded King’s Christian 86-77 in the bronze medal game.
“It’s such a grind for those three days and everything is jam-packed in, not only with the games but with watching game film, the banquet, the excitement, the nervousness and there are so many different factors,” Saint Francis coach Jeremy DelaCruz said. “We always say to win OFSAA you need to be prepared, you need to be lucky and you need to have the ball bounce your way. For this instance, we had some up-and-down games which helped us for our preparation but the teams were very, very competitive. We couldn’t really find a groove to stay consistent but that is the game of basketball.”
Saint Francis was fuelled at the tournament by an outpouring of supporting messages from alumni and parents of former players.
The success of the program has its foundation with the junior team.
“They establish the culture. We work together to make sure it is a four-year program and that the kids are aware of what our standards are,” DelaCruz said. “That message is maintained throughout those four years and whatever is built in junior we push on in senior and elevate as well. The kids understand that, they want to be a part of history and they want to come in and be successful.”
At every OFSAA, the Phoenix go in with a target on their backs.
“It is hard enough when you are there a number of times but when you are the No. 1 seed, everyone wants to take down the top seed,” he said. “We always use that as motivation but there are other schools that are there all the time as well. Ashbury, the program we lost to in the semifinals, is well respected and well coached. Sometimes we have got them and this year they got us. We always know it is going to be a battle and I don’t know if people think it is going to be a cakewalk because it is double A. But there are some programs that really put in the work and make if very difficult.”
Saint Francis will return nine of 13 players next year. Lost to graduation will be: Tommy Goodwin, the team’s starting centre who was injured in the semifinal; rebounding machine Jakub Labanowicz, who was the catalyst of the bronze-medal win along with Elijah Quissua after Andrew Ens was injured in the game; Carter McNeil, a great shooter off the bench and a team player; and, Nolan Freel, a 12B player who pushed his teammates.
St. Francis opened the tournament with a 62-50 victory over 19th-seeded Westgate by building quarter leads of 23-11, 38-19 and 52-25. Leading scorers were Jack Ciocca (17), Ens (11), Quissua (10) and Labanowicz (9).
In it second game, the Phoenix had quarter advantages of 17-10, 34-17 and 42-25 on the way to a 50-32 triumph over 16th-seeded Crescent School. Top scorers were Ens (13), Goodwin (11), Ciocca (6), Quissua (5) and Labanowicz (5).
Saint Francis advanced to the semifinals with a 75-70 over 11th-seeded McKinnon Park. The Phoenix did it by building quarter leads of 16-15, 38-34 and 65-47. Topping the scoring list were Ens (25), Quissua (17), Ciocca (12) and Labanowicz (8).
The Phoenix were relegated to the bronze-medal game with the loss to Ashbury. They led 22-14 and 32-20 after the first and second quarters but trailed 49-43 heading into the final quarter.
Leading scorers were Quissua (25), Awab Ali (15), Ciocca (9), Ens (5) and Nawab Kigab (5).
In the bronze medal game versus King’s Christian, Saint Francis trailed 25-21 after one quarter and was tied 41-41 at the half and 60-60 after three quarters. Leading scorers were Ali (25), Quissua (21), Labanowicz (20) and Carter Ethier (8).
Members of the team were Farouk Akasha, Ali, McNeil, Trent Dobson, Ens, Labanowicz, Ciocca, Ethier, Austin Hinds, Goodwin,Quissua, Kigab, Ian Allas, Sam Riddell and Freel.
The coaching staff was made up of DelaCruz, Jon Marcheterre, Josh Ens, Rich Alderson and Mike Lucas.
