It
was already a formality that St.
Christopher's high school would be
hosting three basketball games on
Saturday.
What
was left to be decided was how many
St. Christopher's Cyclones teams
would be playing.
The answer is all three.
The Cyclones defeated St. Patrick's
34-51 in junior action to earn a
birth into the LSSAA championship
game.
They will play the Northern Vikings,
who defeated St. Clair 57-34 .
"I was nervous at the beginning,"
head coach Sean Maheau said after
his Cyclones victory. "But the boys
came to play. Mike Rocca was very
impressive as was our big guy Martin
Popiel."
As a Grade 9, Rocca led the Cyclone
offence with 16 points while Popiel
led the way on defence with many
blocks before fouling out in the
fourth.
It will be an up-hill climb when
Northern and St. Chris meet in the
finals.
Northern (who went 12-0 this season)
defeated the Cyclones by 22 points
their first game and eight in their
last meeting.
It was the only two losses for the
Cyclones all year. "They are so
deep," Maheau said. "You always
expect them to be in the finals."
Justin Zonneville lead the way for
the Vikings against St. Clair with
19 points including 13 in the first
quarter. He alone out scored the St.
Clair team in the first (13-10).
"They kids played well," Northern
coach Jason Cain said after the win.
"St. Clair stuck with us for most of
the first half."
As for the prospects of meeting the
Cyclones in the championship game,
Cain said there are some match-up
problems.
Most of the Northern team was
on-hand to see the St. Chris victory
over St. Pats. "Just doing some
scouting and watching how they
play," Cain said.
The Cyclones and Vikings will meet
up at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
In the senior ranks the Cyclones
will host St. Clair after the
Cyclones nailed down a buzzer beater
in the dying seconds of the fourth
quarter against Northern to advance.
The game will go at 8 p.m. The
Midget game goes at 2 p.m. with St.
Chris hosting LCCVI or Northern in
the Finals. |