Phoenix set to meet Flyers in final
It’s sounds strange, but playing in the finals of the Standard Tournament Friday will be a new experience for the St. Francis Phoenix.
The Phoenix have a long and successful record at the tournament, winning four titles in a row from 2016/17 though 2019/20, but none of the members of this year’s squad were on those teams.
“I haven’t been there before — none of our guys have been there before — it’s a new experience and it will be fun,” St. Francis guard Andrew Ens said Thursday night after the Phoenix topped the Denis Morris Reds 67-42 in a championship round semifinal game at Ridley College to punch their ticket to Friday’s final versus the Eden Flyers.
St. Francis coach Jon Marcheterre is hopeful his charges can add to the school’s already impressive resume.
“For every single one of them it will be a new experience,” Marcheterre said. “Despite having that run of four years where every single player in our program had won a Standard, now because of COVID and not making it to the finals last year, it will certainly be special.”
The Phoenix had their run of four straight titles end last season in the semifinals, making this year’s appearance all the more meaningful.
“It is definitely something that is on our calendar and to make it to the finals in the 60th year, it’s incredible to be part of that. To know these guys have an opportunity to continue adding to our story, that’s nine in the last 14, so for us we are just trying to continue it and get back to where we were,” Marcheterre said.
The top-ranked Phoenix had their hands full with the Reds, who kept the game within striking distance until the final four minutes.
“We knew they were going to come back and be strong because it’s a competitive game and they’re a good team so we knew they would fight back,” Ens said. “Keep shooting, even if we’re missing, and it worked out.”
Marcheterre used his bench liberally.
“We had been going a good job of getting guys through early so we could get their legs going,”he said. “We’ve been rolling though most of our bench in the second half of the game. Take nothing away from DM, they pushed hard, but we were keeping an eye and we were another bucket of two away from having to make some adjustments. We had two or three of our starters on the bench ready to come back. It was making sure everyone got their opportunity and getting them ready for tomorrow night.”
Ens, who led all scorers with 18 points, said contributing is more than just scoring points.
“It feels good, not only the points, but helping the team play defence and assists. It’s more than just points. It feels good to have points but do all the little things that help us,” he said.
Marcheterre has seen Ens develop from a rookie playing at the senior level to a seasoned veteran.
“He’s outstanding, he means everything to us,” Marcheterre said. “He’s our guy. It’s been a real pleasure watching him develop from Grade 9 starting at point for us making all kinds of young kid mistakes but to see the way he plays now is a night and day difference. The maturity, he’s directing traffic, his head is up, he doesn’t feel pressure the way he did as a kid.”
The Phoenix will be looking for their 10th tournament title versus the Flyers, who have yet to win a Standard championship.
“They’ve earned their way to the finals,” Marcheterre said. “They’re very talented. Chad Thorpe is a talented player in 12B who’s experienced and they have a lot of energy and length. They play in their zone and try to force you to shoot.
“We’ll see what we can do. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Reds coach Wade Pychel knew his changes were in tough versus St. Francis.
“We knew we had a puncher’s chance going into this game,” he said. “To have them within nine with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, we just couldn’t get that last basket to get it to seven or six. That was the difference. We couldn’t get that key basket when we needed it.
“This week was great for our program. To make it to the semis on the championship side and to play against the gold medalists from OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) last year, that’s all we can ask for. To compete as hard as we did today, I’m super proud of my guys.”
STATS PACK
Phoenix 67 Reds 42
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: St. Francis’ Andrew Ens.
Boston Pizza Player of the Game: Denis Morris’ Demarco Perry.
For the St. Francis Phoenix: Andrew Ens 18; Jack Ciocca 10; Elijah Quissua 9; Awab Ali 8; Jakob Labanowicz 8; Austin Hinds 6; Farouk Akasha 3; Trent Dobson 2. Three points unaccounted for.
For the Denis Morris Reds: Demarco Perry 15; Travis Palmer 13; Joshua Kaufman 10; Nathan Sansaet 4.
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