St. Catherine makes board finals in boys basketball
The St. Catherine Cyclones boys will join their female counterparts at the board finals after defeating Monsignor O’Donoghue to win the Holy Cross Family of Schools intermediate boys basketball tournament Monday afternoon.
The teams battled back and forth, with St. Catherine holding a 10-9 lead at the half. They exchanged the lead several times early in the second before St. Catherine pulled away, winning 23-17 after O’Donoghue scored two on an exciting game-ending buzzer beater.
St. Catherine’s girls also advanced, defeating St. Alphonsus 31-22 last Thursday to win the Holy Cross Family of Schools intermediate girls basketball tournament.
Shooting guard Duncan Branch credited the Eagle’s stingy defence, timely scoring and support of each other for helping them emerge victorious.
Stephen Perras, who coaches the team along with Yvan Racine, agreed it was the team’s defence that was most critical to the victory. Players effectively set up screens to cut off lanes to their basket, for example.
“That was out real strength today. And playing as a team,” he said, pointing out that players were also able to avoid rushing, which can lead to game-changing turnovers.
Cyclones coach Crystal Cavanagh smiled as she praised the performance of her spirited group as they left the floor.
“They have a lot of that. It was a real all-for-one kind of thing,” she said.
Guard Nick Roode explained how the team planned to focus on its defence and that paid off in a big way. “Our hands were up strong today.”
Seven teams competed in the tournament, first playing four games in a preliminary round to determine playoff seeding.
O’Donoghue, St. Catherine, St. Patrick and St. John – each with identical 3-1 records – were respectively seeded one through four. The tie break was then decided by adding each team’s points for and against.
O’Donoghue earned a bye to the A final for finishing first, while second-place St. Catherine defeated third-place St. Patrick to advance.
St. Patrick was then declared the B final winner without playing another game, because of the uneven number of teams. St. John battled St. Paul in the C final while Rhema Christian School tangled with St. Alphonsus in the D final.
The board-wide finals take place Thursday – at St. Peter Secondary School for boys and Holy Cross for girls.
St. Anne edged St. Paul of Peterborough 48-44 to win the St. Peter Family of Schools intermediate boys tournament last Tuesday and advance to the finals.