Blue Raiders net Catholic hoops gold
St. Michael is not the patron saint of victory on the basketball court.
Good luck convincing the 15 other teams at the Ontario Catholic Classic Basketball Tournament of that.
For the fourth straight year, and for the sixth time in seven years, the St. Michael’s College Blue Raiders were the last team standing and the only one to go undefeated at the senior boys high school showcase.
The Toronto school ended the two- day tournament co- hosted by Denis Morris and Notre Dame by topping Hamilton Cardinal Newman 68- 58 Saturday night in St. Catharines.
Holy Trinity defeated St. Thomas Aquinas 60- 44 in a battle of Oakville schools in the B final that tipped off a championship doubleheader at Denis Morris.
A field boasting some of the top double and triple A Catholic high school boys basketball programs in the province featured four teams from the region. In addition to the co- host Denis Morris Reds and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the St. Francis Phoenix and St. Paul Patriots used the tournament as a final tuneup for league playoffs getting underway Monday.
Notre Dame had the deepest run of the Niagara teams competing in the 43rd edition of a tournament that was established before full public funding was extended to Catholic high schools in Ontario.
The Irish rebounded from an 83- 53 loss to reigning silver medallist Mississauga St. Marcellinus by eliminating Ottawa St. Patrick 69- 46 before falling to Aquinas 6860 in the semifinal round on the consolation side of the bracket.
St. Francis defeated Oakville Trinity, 67- 61, and St. Paul upset Toronto St. John Paul II 80- 74 advancing to the championship before losing their championship quarter- finals to Cardinal Newman, 70- 60; and Hamilton Cathedral, 64- 61; respectively.
Denis Morris finished the tournament 0- 2. The Reds opened with a 79- 39 loss to No. 1 seed St. Michael’s College and were sent to the sidelined following a 51- 44 loss to Aquinas.
Denis Morris, which has hosted the finals every year since the tournament’s inception in 1975, and Notre Dame are among the eight schools that founded the Catholic Classic.
The founding schools have standing invitations with the remainder of the 16- team field by invitation only.
St. Francis was the last local team to play in the final losing the championship to St. Michael’s College three years ago.
Last Niagara team to win it all was Notre Dame, which beat Toronto Father Henry Carr in 2006.