Phoenix take home bronze
The St. Francis Phoenix added to their already impressive medal collection with a bronze at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations boys AA basketball championships in Windsor earlier this week.
It was the second bronze in as many years for the Phoenix, who have qualified for OFSAA in 16 of the last 18 years, collecting nine medals, including a gold in 2015.
The Phoenix, who were ranked third, defeated No. 5 seed Ashbury College 54-36 in the bronze medal game.
“It’s something we are definitely proud of,” head coach Jono Marcheterre said. “We certainly want to go and win the tournament. Just qualifying is not our goal. Our goal is to go and win a gold medal, that being said, in the last three years we’ve won a silver and two bronze.”
Marcheterre said the competition was off the charts.
“It’s an incredibly tough field and to win a gold is a heck of a challenge. We were proud to win the bronze and ending the tournament with a win is a nice feeling.”
The Phoenix were relegated to the bronze medal game after falling 64-36 to second-seeded Crescent in the semifinals.
“That was a very tough game,” Marcheterre said. “Crescent is a very tough team. We knew we were going to be in tough. We beat them for the bronze last year and they have some very talented players.”
Marcheterre indicted the game was up for grabs at the half.
“It was only a one or two-point game and we felt good going into half,” he said. “We were right there with them, obviously. We came out in the second half and they found another gear and we did not.
“Shots didn’t go for us in the second half and a lot of good shots went to them and that’s life.”
The Phoenix then rebounded in the bronze medal game.
“We had to really put the loss behind us,” Marcheterre said. “The message was it’s like life. Stuff happens to everyone and it’s how you deal with it. Nobody wants to hear this happened or that happened and you lost, it’s how did you bounce back.”
Saint Francis opened the tournament with victories over No. 17 Erindale, 73-52, No. 14 Ignatius, 56-51, and No. 11 Adam Scott, 71-70.
Members of the Phoenix are: Ben Lannan, Igor M’Baya, Quinton Duemo, Max Riddell, Cole Carpenter, Andres Pelaez, Sacade Kasamba, Nick Sanko, Allen Kalonji, Vlad Brudnula-Illija and Marko Al-Kayed.
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