Phoenix back in Classic semifinals
The Saint Francis Phoenix senior boys basketball team will be making its third straight appearance in the Ontario Catholic Classic semifinals.
After opening the tournament with a 64-42 victory over Christ the King Jaguars from Halton Hills Friday morning, Saint Francis punched its ticket to the semifinals of the 47th annual event with a 77-49 win Friday afternoon against the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals from Stoney Creek.
“It’s great. Let’s see if we can get over the hump. We will see who we play next and take it one game at a time,” Saint Francis coach Jeremy DelaCruz said. “Hopefully we can make it.”
Up next for the Phoenix is St. Michael’s College from Toronto, who upset top-seeded Ursaline College 60-54.
Winning will come down doing the little things, DelaCruz said.
“Who is going to be tougher? Who is going to rebound? Who is going to give up their own goals for the team goals?”
Leading the way for the Phoenix against the Cardinals was point guard Andrew Ens with 27 points.
“He had a tough shooting game the last game but he comes out for the big games,” DelaCruz said. “We know he is going to get his buckets but today I was really proud of how he moved the ball and was locked down defensively.”
Ens had 16 in the first game.
“I wasn’t shooting the greatest but we came up with the win.”
He and his teammates are hoping to string a few more wins together and make school history.
“This tournament is very important. It is a very historic tournament.”
Ens is excited to be back in the semifinals.
“It is really cool. Last year we were in it and lost and in these semifinals we hope to change that story.”
He feels the team is capable of doing that.
“There’s not much difference from last year. It’s the same team minus a few key players but we make up for it with the new players coming in.”
Lessons learned from 2023 should help in the 2024 Classic.
“We have to be tough, not talking to the refs and knowing when to go and when to calm down and wait for a good shot.”
Friday’s quarter-final was closer than the final score indicated.
“It was a good win, a tough win and it started off close in the first two to three quarters. They play tough defence and they do a lot of things well but we pulled it off,” Ens.
DelaCruz liked how his team played.
“We have been struggling the past couple of games and the third quarter has been our Achilles heel but we saw us lock in and focus. We didn’t rebound the ball well today but we’ve gotten better from other games and that’s what it comes down to; getting those second chances.”
He is enjoying his team’s run at the Classic.
“It’s great competition right now and it’s exactly what we need going into the gauntlet of the season. Cardinal Newman was very well-coached and it was a great test leading to our long-term goals.”
Also scoring for the Phoenix in the victory were: Elijah Quissua 16; Awab Ali 15; Jack Ciocca 11; Austin Hinds 6; and, Jakob Labanowicz 2
Top scorers for St. John Henry Newman were Enoch Babatunde (11), Markus Palermo (11) and Nathan Burke (9).
PHOENIX 64 JAGUARS 42
Saint Francis opened play Friday morning with a 64-42 victory over Christ the King Jaguars from Halton Hills.
The game was tied 10-10 after the first quarter before the Phoenix grabbed quarter leads of 36-15 and 53-29 to take control of the games.
Scoring for the Phoenix were Ens 16; Quissua 10; Ciocca 9; Carter MacNeil 6; Labanowicz 6; Hinds 6; Nawaf Kigab 4; Ali 3; Trent Dobson 2; Tommy Goodwin 2.
Leading scorers for Christ the King were Owen Papineau (12) and David Kranmer (8).
