Rookie guard powers Phoenix into finals
Sacade Kasamba is the youngest in a long line of talented basketball brothers.
Oldest brother Tshing played NCAA Division 1 ball at Chicago State before finishing his career at Brock, second oldest brother Cele was standout with the St. Francis Phoenix and third oldest brother Benji suits up with the Denis Morris Redmen.
The Grade 10 player, who scored 30 points Thursday night as the St. Francis Phoenix thumped the Centennial Cougars in the championship semifinals of the 57th Annual Standard High School Basketball Tournament, says there’s no secret to the Kasambas’ basketball success.
“We work hard for it,” the 15-year-old said.
The six-foot guard has been motivated in his hardwood career by his brothers.
“It makes me want to work hard and be as good as them,” he said. “And they are motivating me to do my best.”
He has felt their support as the Standard tournament has moved along this week.
“The first couple of games weren’t my games and I wasn’t top scorer,” he said. “They told me to just work it out, pass the ball, move the ball and you will get the ball back.
“And that’s what I did today.”
He got a taste of senior ball last year and that has made for a smooth transition in his Grade 10 year.
“There’s more competition and more pressure and it helped me deal with the stress,” he said.
Sacade has high hopes for his basketball career.
“My number I goal is to play D1,” he said.
More than anything else, Phoenix head coach Jon Marcheterre loves Sacade’s smile.
“That kid has so much life and joy when he is playing basketball.”
As a player, Marcheterre describes Sacade as extremely dynamic.
“He’s an athlete, he can fly up and down the floor and I don’t even know what his wingspan measures. It’s insane and he takes away guys just by stretching out his arms,” he said.
Marcheterre also likes the intangibles of his talented guard.
“He brings energy and he fires the guys up,” he said. “He has so much potential to be a leader on this team and it’s just a matter of polish and to continue developing in terms of his maturity.”
St. Francis roared out to a 20-5 first quarter lead and a shellshocked Centennial squad couldn’t recover.
“They are a good team and they came out quick,” Centennial coach Craig Maltais said. “This was our first big game this season and we just weren’t quite ready.
“Next time we will be more ready and it’s a good learning experience for our guys.”
Those lessons will play off in the long run for the Cougars
“They are great competition and we really learned a lot from this game,” he said. “They have been going to OFSAAs (Ontario Federation of School Athletics Associations championships) for years and years and years and that’s where we want to be as well.
“We picked up a lot of things that we need to work on in practice next week.”
St. Francis did exactly what it had hoped to do Thursday.
“Our game plan was to come out firing and hopefully, with our press and our defence, put them in a position where they would feel uncomfortable and then ride that wave throughout the rest of the game,” Marcheterre said.
St. Francis has had average winning margin of 33.3 points in the tournament, but that doesn’t mean the Phoenix haven’t been tested.
“We haven’t necessarily had one on the score sheet that was close, but we are working really hard at trying to get ourselves better day in and day out whether it is a practice or a game,” Marcheterre said. “We have things that we are trying to keep our guys focused on and that’s our challenge.”
STATS PACK
Phoenix 74 Cougars 37
No Limit Performance/Kully’s Player of the Game: St. Francis’ Sacade Kasamba with 30 points and Centennial’s Jackson McNeil with 11 points.
For the St. Francis Phoenix: Kasamba 30; Sam Braithwaite 11; Nick Hoggan 9; Quinton Duemo 5; Connor Landell 7; Igor M’Baya 5; Max Riddell 3; Cam Van Hezewyk 2; Luc Fortin 2.
For the Centennial Cougars: Reese Radobenko 21; Jackson McNeil 11; Jonah Preston 5.
