Phoenix gunning for 11th Standard title
The top-seeded Saint Francis Phoenix senior boys basketball team enters the 61st Annual Standard High School Basketball Tournament as the heavy favourite.
Looking for the 11th Standard title in school history, the Phoenix are returning eight players from the squad that won last year’s Ontario Catholic Classic and an Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations AA bronze medal.
Winning the Standard tournament is a big deal for the school.
“It’s the one we mark down all the time because it makes you city champs pretty much,” said Rich Alderson, who is the new head coach of the senior team after many years of running the school’s powerful junior program. “Everyone from St. Catharines is here and it is always nice to have this tournament and settle who is the best team in the city.”
Phoenix guard Jack Ciocca approaches the tournament as a key part of the team’s calendar.
“You look up at the banners and you see the years we won back to back to back to back and it goes on. It’s important, it means a lot to us. It shows how we can compete in basketball in our city and it’s fun to see how we stack up against teams in our city.”
The Grade 12 student has plenty of memories about the tournament as a player and as a fan.
“I remember in Grade 7. I went to watch the Standard final and I remember that team that won. There was Sacade (Kasamba), Max Riddell and a lot of important people that shaped the Saint Francis basketball program for me,” he said. “The people I looked up to is one of the reasons why I came to the school. I remember them winning it. Getting one last year and having a chance to win another means a lot to me.”
Like every team in the tournament, the Phoenix are in anything but mid-season form, although, they are coming off a win in the Notre Dame tournament, defeating the hosts by 12 in the final.
“It’s very hard and we are a little bit more behind than we usually are but we are all in the same boat,” Alderson said.
Being a little behind is the result of players coming over at the end of football and volleyball seasons and the coaching change.
“I didn’t get my hands on the team until later and, moving up to the senior level, I am just trying to figure out the game.”
Alderson agrees junior and senior ball are totally different animals.
“It’s managing all the minutes for the players — we have a large, large bench and we’re very deep — and it’s looking at the things I was able to do as a junior coach and am I able to do that as a senior coach. I don’t know right now. I am dealing with the speed, the size, the athleticism of the senior player and it is just a little bit more challenging.”
When asked what the main difference is between himself and the previous coaches, he described himself as ultra-aggressive.
“I am very aggressive in my style. I want to play fast, I want to get up and down the floor, I want to put up shots whereas it was a little bit more controlled before.”
What hasn’t changed is the program’s vaunted press and defensive intensity.
“We haven’t got there yet but we are going to get there,” Alderson said.
Ciocca and Andrew Ens are the only Phoenix players who didn’t suit up for Alderson at the junior level and Ciocca has been impressed with the new coach’s energy.
“I respect both of them (Alderson and Jon Marcheterre) a lot and I have learned a lot from both of them. They are both amazing role models as coaches and I would say Aldy looks at the little things. He definitely brings energy and he is very vocal.”
Ciocca has certainly noticed Alderson’s emphasis on aggression.
“Even in practice, you will see him sitting with his hand on his chin and you look over and think that he is thinking. The next minute he is running on the court. The best is when he says ‘You’ve gotta be dogs.’ And then he shows us what it is like to be a dog. It is energy that I have never seen before in a coach and he is going to bring a new style of basketball to this team. If you are not giving 100 per cent in every moment, then you shouldn’t be on the floor.”
In addition to another Standard crown, the team has high expectations for the 2024-25 season.
“We lost a few key pieces but we still have a strong, strong core that has some good pedigree and good in-game experience in tough games and it’s nice to know you are going into battle with battle-tested kids,” Alderson said.
The two key pieces lost to graduation were Tommy Goodwin and Jakub (Kuba) Labanowicz.
“They were the core of the bunch and they did all the dirty work rebounding and giving us some toughness,” he said. “They were a big loss and a couple of kids went to Ridley from the junior program and one kid went back to Saint Paul so we lost a couple of good solid junior kids who would have been part of this team as well.”
Ciocca isn’t thinking too far ahead.
“There are definitely high expectations but for me the highest expectation is just winning the next one. I am never going to talk about March or even next year. We train for March (OFSAA) but we don’t think about March. If you start looking ahead, you miss the present.”
Ciocca will play a big part in how far the Phoenix get in 2025.
“He is a floor general, is smart, knows what I am trying to do as a coach and he can bring that out on the floor and get all the other guys to follow. He has the experience and he has played senior ball since Grade 9 so he understands the philosophy of the program and he can instil that in everyone around him on the floor and off,” Alderson said.
Ciocca always lets the game come to him and doesn’t force anything.
“He is just a solid, solid player, he has hit some big shots for us and he has already done that this year as well. He is a nice piece to have.”
