Saints edged in exhibition thriller
CAMBRIDGE — The St. Benedict Saints have a new admirer.
Toronto Central Tech Blues head coach Kevin Jeffers had nothing but praise for Thursday night’s opponent after his team’s 59-57 win over the Saints in a fastpaced exhibition thriller at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary.
Jeffers, who coached Eastern Commerce to an Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championship in 2009, told Saints head coach John Malnerich his team was capable of making noise at OFSAA if they manage to get that far.
“I told John, ‘Buddy, if you get there and play with that intensity and play with the same kind of composure you played with tonight, good things are going to happen for you,” said Jeffers, whose Blues play in the National Preparatory Association.
“I no longer have Eastern Commerce to cheer for (it closed in 2015 due to low enrolment), so I’m going to root for them definitely. That’s a good team, so I hope they get there and I hope they do well.”
Justin Malnerich scored a game-high 20 points for St. Benedict, including a three-point effort with 80 seconds remaining that gave his team a 57-55 lead.
Chris Hankins tied the game seconds later and Evan Shadkami hit one of two free throws to give the Blues the win.
Saints star Zubair Seyed, the two-time reigning MVP of the District 8 league, was nailed for a charging infraction on his team’s second-to-last possession and lost control of the ball with his team down by two points on the final possession.
Otherwise, the speedy Seyed turned in an outstanding performance and finished with 15 points. Evan Rodenburg added 13 for St. Benedict, which will now turn its attention to the D-8 playoffs and beyond. Their OFSAA drive begins Monday with a home encounter against the St. Mary’s Eagles.
Justin Malnerich was proud of
his team’s performance and was especially pleased with how they handled Central Tech’s high-pressure defence.
“We played well, just a couple of mistakes and a couple of turnovers. We’re not disappointed with this. We played at a high level and we’re getting better every time out,” he said.
“I think we’re close. We have a couple of things to fix up, but I think we’re peaking at the right time.”
Shadkami and Steven Rwahwire scored 16 and 13 points respectively for Eastern Commerce, which overcame a hostile crowd to improve to 23-8 on the season. St. Benedict, which has won five tournaments this season, fell to 39-4.
Central Tech led 30-26 at halftime and continued to lead 44-41 after three quarters. The Saints opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run that brought the capacity crowd to its feet. The atmosphere remained electric until the end.
The St. David Celtics will take on the Resurrection Phoenix in Monday’s other District 8 semifinal, with the winners meeting in the final on Thursday night.
St. Benedict scored a pair of easy regular-season wins over St. Mary’s — 95-47 on Jan. 18 and 77-47 on Jan. 24.