It was the mirror-opposite of what many had witnessed during
their earlier games at the Lower Mainland 3-A senior boys basketball tournament, but the St. Thomas More Knights will take it.
Up was down, dry was wet, Moonlight was La-la Land. In the end, all that really mattered was the final tally.
An uncharacteristic 5-0 deficit midway through the first quarter became a satisfying 53-50 win over Lord Byng for the Knights on Friday, wrapping up the tournament in third place.
The most important part, however, was established a day earlier when they put a tough loss behind them to clinch one of four berths to the provincials by drubbing McNair 94-69 in Richmond.
"The kids were ready to play," said STM coach Aaron Mitchell. "They had a quiet confidence about them, and it showed early with a 15-2 start."
The Knights demonstrated plenty of its offensive finish to nearly break the three-digit barrier, but that prowess would be punted for a more defensive, strategic battle in the third-place game.
The slow start against Lord Byng, which looked a trifle scary at 9-0 with 2:30 left in the first quarter, really didn't faze the players, said Mitchell.
"It was a slow start, three days in a row you're going to show it," said Mitchell, who was voted the top coach at the tournament. "As I've said, you can't have five guys play 38 or 40 minutes and just count on a run or two to get it going. You need eight to nine guys ready to contribute, and we got that."
It went right to the wire, and a pair of free throws by Richard Galicia padding the end result with just 11 seconds to play.
Well in hand, the next test, where both squads knew they had a berth locked up, was a different matter.
Cam Morris counted a team-high 23 points and Liam Feenan chipped in nine.
The last two games highlighted the character and calibre of STM's on-floor leaders, who effectively turned the page on a 80-76 semifinal loss last Wednesday to Steveston-London, and got back on track with a convincing effort against McNair.
As Mitchell has said during the year, it is difficult to beat a team three times in a season. After having topped Steveston-London twice, by margins of 14 and 19 points, the semifinal presented a bigger spotlight and a higher purpose.
The STM squad would not let that loss define an excellent season, however, and now they have a full week to prepare for the provincials, which run March 8 to 11 at the Langley Events Centre.
"It's a tough, mental grind right now," added Mitchell of the final weeks of the marathon season. "Right now we're doing more work on the mental side of preparation, because there isn't much the players haven't done to be ready physically."
Morris was named to the first all-star team, while Feenan was a second-team selection.
