After the "snow day" on Friday wiped away the original eight-team draw, five teams that elected to make the trek to Kitchener on Saturday played a modified round-robin draw for the sixth-annual Luke Santi Memorial Tournament.Two Guelph schools, the Bishop Macdonell Celtics and Lourdes Crusaders, both went 2-0 during the day to advance to the championship final on Saturday evening --- a game that went right down to the wire with both teams having opportunities to end it in regulation before it went to overtime tied at 55-55.
Bishop Macdonell would salt things away in the overtime, outscoring Lourdes 9-2 in the overtime period for a 64-57 final and their second Luke Santi tournament title in the past three seasons.
Lukas Wood, who was named tournament MVP, poured in 21 points to lead Bishop Mac with teammate Brandon Whiteside adding 12. Craig Valeriote knocked home a game-high 28 points for Lourdes in defeat.
Since the tournament's name was changed to honour former RCSS player Luke Santi in 2008, each championship game has been decided by single-digits, including this overtime game. Last year's game was a one-point thriller between Holy Trinity and Jean Vanier (Richmond Hill).
Here's a tournament run-down, with more to follow:
"Round-robin" Results
Bishop Macdonell 50, Resurrection 43
Lourdes 48, St. Thomas Aquinas (London) 42
Bishop Macdonell 57, St. Michael (Stratford) 48
Resurrection 59, St. Thomas Aquinas 29
Lourdes over St. Michael (Stratford)
Third Place Game
Resurrection 58, St. Michael (Stratford) 33
Championship Final
Bishop Macdonell 64, Lourdes 57 (OT)
Tournament All-Stars
Lukas Wood, Bishop Macdonell (MVP)
Jake Chaput, Bishop Macdonell
Evan Hosker, Bishop Macdonell
Craig Valeriote, Our Lady of Lourdes
Alex Hudecki, Our Lady of Lourdes
Sean Begy, Resurrection
Muyang Illuya, Resurrection
Prince Dang, Resurrection
Keaton Middleton, St. Mike's
Shawn O'Connor, St. Mike's
Matt MacFarlane, St. Thomas Aquinas
*Interesting sidenote - Sean Begy (current RCSS player and tournament all-star) was Luke Santi's cousin.
Tournament Leading Scorers
1. Craig Valeriote, OLOL - 24.3 PPG
2. Lukas Wood, BMAC - 16.3 PPG
3. Matt MacFarlane, STA - 12.0 PPG
4. Keaton Middleton, STM - 9.7 PPG
T5. Jake Chaput, BMAC - 9.3 PPG
T5. Shawn O'Connor, STM - 9.3 PPG
7. Evan Hosker, BMAC - 9.0 PPG
8. Brandon Whiteside, BMAC - 7.7 PPG
9. Joseph Hunter, RCSS - 7.0 PPG
10. Alex Hudecki, OLOL - 7.0 PPG
T11. Muyang Iluya, RCSS - 6.7 PPG
T11. Jack Olson, BMAC - 6.7 PPG
T13. Prince Dang, RCSS - 6.3 PPG
T13. James Gerstenkorn, OLOL - 6.3 PPG
15. Ali Rashid, RCSS - 6.0 PPG
