Call it a mixed bag.
The St. Thomas More Knights gained invaluable experience and exposure last week as hosts of the 50th Chancellor Basketball tournament in Burnaby.
While their record ended as a 2-2 split, Knights head coach Aaron Mitchell feels the key is to see those lessons reflect in this week’s B.C. Catholic championships and the Robert Bateman tourney two weeks from now.
“These games were all tough but they were exactly what we needed,” said Mitchell. “Not being in a league (as an independent Lower Mainland team) means we have to test ourselves through these tournaments, and I think we did that.”
St. Thomas More wound up sixth overall after Saturday’s disappointing 62-57 loss to Fleetwood Park, but suffered both defeats by a combined difference of nine points.
In Saturday’s tilt, they led by five points early in the third quarter only to witness a scrappy Fleetwood crew wedge its way with a slim edge in the fourth quarter, out-scoring the Knights 16-11. It was a one-point game until Nikhail Berar drained a clutch trey with 32 seconds left, and that threw all the leverage to the Quad-A Dragons.
“I think both (teams) took advantage to get everyone in the game,” said Mitchell. “Fleetwood’s a good team and our main goal was to focus on a few of their guys, but No. 33 (Tomas Fovenyi) got hot for them. That was frustrating.”
Fovenyi finished with 19 points, including five from the three-point line. Leading the Knights’ offence were Cam
Morris, with 15 points and James Laguerta, with 10 points.
By far the toughest setback came on Thursday, when More took Triple-A rival Pitt Meadows the distance before getting bounced 62-58 from the quarterfinals.
The Knights led 30-28 at halftime but were trailing by four entering the fourth quarter. They pulled it to 59-58 in the final minute but couldn’t bridge the gap. Morris contributed 18 points and Richard Galicia tallied 17 points.
“We were down 23-9 to start that game but we pushed back,” said Mitchell. “We didn’t play well against Pitt or Handsworth (in the opening 57-54 win). I don’t know if it was a case of nerves or what. We fought back and got right there at the half but it just didn’t translate into (points) in the second half.”
After the Pitt Meadows setback, St. Thomas More rebounded with a 54-45 decision over the Delta Pacers.
While they dominated the first half and led 32-26, the Knights were knocked back when the Pacers counted 10 of 12 points to start the third. But the home team replied with the next 11 points and reclaimed the lead en route to the win.
Galicia led the Knights with 21 points, while Morris scored 20. The 6-foot-4 guard was named a tournament honourable mention all-star.
Also making major contributions in the week were guard E.J. Escobedo and post players Liam Feenan and Nathan Hallam.
"Down the stretch we need to be more consistent... It's a learning experience for our 13 Grade 11s, and we have to use that down the road," said Mitchell.
In the tourney opener, STM held on for a 57-54 win over Handsworth before a boisterous home crowd. Morris drained three treys in the fourth quarter and finished with 26 points, while Edward Ju chipped in nine points.
On Thursday, the Knights launch the B.C. Catholic championships at 1:30 p.m. against Notre Dame.
The Byrne Creek Bulldogs’ run at the Chancellor started with a polished 70-53 win. Abdul Bangura counted 17 points – all in the second half – while Bithow Wan supplied 15 points.
In their second game, they ran aground against Steveston-London, who would dominate 86-68 and go on to capture the tournament title in convincing fashion.
“That Steveston team is as good a team I’ve seen all year,” remarked Bulldogs coach Bal Dhillon. “Once they got ahead we just couldn’t recover.”
Steveston led 31-16 after one quarter and by 16 at the half, as Byrne Creek shook off the tough start and had moments of narrowing the gap. Wan scored a team-high 27 points, including 21 in the second half, while Malik Holmes chipped in with 22.
In their final test, the Bulldogs were in a tight contest until midway through the second quarter when Fleetwood Park went on an eight-point run to break a 21-21 stalemate and advance with a 74-57 win.
Wan tallied 33 points and John Paul Magalong added 13 in the loss.
“I thought the guys who played played very well… I think the break hurt us. While we practiced through the break, I think the lesson we learned was you are going to play like you practice,” said Dhillon.
On Monday, Byrne Creek responded and knocked off Burnaby Mountain 96-71 in a Burnaby-New West league match.
“I think the players took to heart that lesson, especially our leaders,” added the coach.