The Resurrection CSS Phoenix won both the junior and senior District 8 championships on Monday evening at St. David. In the process, both clubs earned trips to their respective "AAAA" Championships which will be co-hosted by the Kitchener school this weekend.
Senior: Resurrection 63, St. Mary's 53
The senior Phoenix captured their second D8 title in the past three years. In the process, Andrew Mwangi may have earned himself a D8 MVP award.
Mwangi, who is only in grade 11, poured in 23 points (on an efficient 7 for 9 shooting and 7 for 8 from the line) and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Phoenix beat St. Mary's by a 63-53 final ---- a game that wasn't as close as the score would indicate.
Like the junior final (described below), Rez got off to a slow start and the Eagles took an early 10-4 lead. The Phoenix trailed 15-11 after the first quarter, thanks to the ability of Ben Bankazo and Demar Thompson to find some room inside.
In the second quarter, Rez took over. They outscored St. Mary's 19-7 (including the final 8 points of the quarter) to head to halftime up by 8. Fifth-year forward Matt Stocco had a couple of key rebounds and did some great work inside with a couple of big buckets to close the half.
The third quarter was all Resurrection ---- and all Mwangi. The Phoenix went on a 12-0 run to start the quarter, with 10 of those points scored by Mwangi (including two three-pointers). Mwangi would add 2 more points towards the end of the quarter after St. Mary's coach Jason Hergott got t'd up for arguing what he thought should have been a Resurrection foul.
In the fourth, the Phoenix depth began to wear down the Eagles and their shots increasingly came up short. Rez went 10 guys deep in the first quarter and played all 13 on their roster at one point or another during the contest. The Phoenix extended to a 53-33 lead early in the final frame.
The Eagles, however, should be commended for never giving up. They got a few turnovers and went on an 13-4 run to cut things down to 57-46. Down the stretch, Resurrection's free throw shooting enabled them to maintain a double-digit cushion and earn the victory.
Speaking of free throws, the Phoenix were money from the line --- 21/26. St. Mary's, on the flip side, was just 11 for 21 in the contest.
Alongside Mwangi's 23 points & 12 rebounds, Mike Pereira (also in grade 11) put in 16 points and 8 rebounds off the bench.
For the Eagles, star guard Alex Thompson had a tough day going 3-16 from the floor en route to 12 points. Ben Bankazo led St. Mary's with 15.
With numerous players on each team returning next season (8 in total for RCSS, while SMHS stars Alex Thompson and Isaac Lance are among 5 Eagles in grade 11), this should continue to be a great rivalry over the next several seasons.
RCSS: 11-19-18-15 = 63
SMHS: 15-07-09-22 = 53
RCSS
M. Tyler 1-2, 0-0 FT, 4 Reb, 1 Ast - 2 Pts.
A. Mwangi 7-9, 7-8 FT, 12 Reb, 0 Ast - 23 Pts.
T. Schneider 2-12, 3-4 FT, 3 Reb, 3 Ast - 7 Pts.
R. Herron 0-0, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 2 Ast - 0 Pts.
M. Stocco 3-6, 1-4 FT, 6 Reb, 1 Ast - 7 Pts.
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M. Pereira 5-8, 6-6 FT, 8 Reb, 0 Ast - 16 Pts.
B. Lee 0-0, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 0 Pts.
J. Moi 0-3, 2-2 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
J. Chris 0-3, 2-2 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
J. Rodrigues 1-2, 0-0 FT, 2 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
C. Gibbs 0-2, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
J. Keil 0-0, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
B. Ramirez 0-0, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: .404, Free Throws: 21-26, .808. Three-Point Goals, 2-7, .286 (Mwangi 2-2, Tyler 0-1, Schneider 0-1, Pereira 0-1, Chris 0-1, Gibbs 0-1).
SMHS
I. Lance 1-9, 0-3 FT, 5 Reb, 3 Ast - 3 Pts.
D. Thompson 4-10, 0-1 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 9 Pts.
A. Thompson 3-16, 5-8 FT, 7 Reb, 2 Ast - 12 Pts.
J. Gibson 1-2, 2-4 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 4 Pts.
B. Bankazo 6-11, 2-2 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast - 15 Pts.
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M. Kasunic 1-3, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 2 Pts.
T. Huynh 2-3, 1-1 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 6 Pts.
Z. Hannah 0-1, 1-2 FT, 0 Reb, 1 Ast - 1 Pt.
K. Geng 0-0, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
Field Goals: .327. Free-Throws: 11-21, .524. Three-Point Goals, 5-17, .294 (Bankazo 1-2, Huynh 1-2, D. Thompson 1-3, A. Thompson 1-5, Lance 1-6).
Junior: Resurrection 52, St. Mary's 37
In a score that closely resembled last year's D8 final (won by RCSS 51-37), the Phoenix completed their second consecutive undefeated season in District 8. In doing so, they extended their D8 league & playoff win streak to 24 games.
However, it didn't exactly start the way the Phoenix would have liked. St. Mary's showed a lot of intensity early and jumped out to a quick 13-6 lead 5:00 into the game. However, the Phoenix were able to figure out the St. Mary's zone and three-pointers by four Resurrection players (Adam Schneider, Alphonso Ellis, Mark Radcliffe and Adrian Russell) allowed the Phoenix to take a 27-22 lead going into halftime.
In the second half, the Phoenix cranked up the defensive intensity. It looked like they would pull away when Rez's Tyler Bartley became the 5th Rez player to knock down a three-ball to push the lead to 7; however Chris Walser for St. Mary's came right back with a three of his own. A couple of big baskets by Russell late in the frame allowed the Phoenix to take a 9-point lead heading into the fourth (43-34).
In the fourth, Resurrection was successfully able to run some clock and shorten the game. Reserve forward Patrick Zrebiec had a couple of key steals and an offensive rebound and did a great job on St. Mary's star forward Adam Voll (limiting Voll to just 1 second half point after 10 in the first half).
For Rez, grade 9 guard Adam Schneider had 19 points while Adrian Russell contributed 11. Adam Voll (11) and Chris Cloutier (11) were the high scorers for the Eagles.
RCSS (52)
Adam Schneider 19, Adrian Russell 11, Tyler Bartley 7, Mark Radcliffe 7, Alphonso Ellis 4, Trey Forbes 2, Cory Kenning 2.
SMHS (37)
Chris Cloutier 11, Adam Voll 11, Chris Walser 7, Tyler Hergott 5, Avery Sutton 2, Dylan Brubacher 1.
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