The top two seeds on both the junior & senior sides of the D8 league advanced through to tomorrow evening's finals triple-header at St. Mary's HS (4pm Midget, 6pm Junior & 8pm Senior).There's one piece of the finals puzzle missing, but that will be determined today with the Midget Boys' basketball semifinals. Top seeded St. Benedict will play #4 PRDG in one semifinal, while Resurrection (#2) takes on St. Mary's (#3) in the other.
Now, on to last night's action:
Senior
(1) St. Mary's 71, (4) St. Benedict 39
My Pick: SMHS by 43
No trouble for the Eagles -- as expected -- in their semifinal game against the Saints. As the D8 finals this year are hosted at the highest remaining senior seed, the win also means SMHS hosts the finals tomorrow. Tesloth Simon (10) and Tyler Hergott (9) paced a balanced Eagle attack, while Tyler Moulton had 9 for the Saints.
(2) Resurrection 56, (3) Mons. Doyle 42
My Pick: RCSS by 10
The Phoenix ensured that it will be a RCSS-SMHS final for the 5th straight year, with "5th year players" Patric McGlynn (16) and Adam Schneider (15) leading the way. Sohrob Sultani had a game-high 18 for the 'Stangs, who aren't done just yet as they will advance to a CWOSSA "AAA" qualifier.
Junior
(1) St. Mary's 77, (4) St. David 32
The Eagles ran away from the Celtics in this one, with their balanced attack being led by David Nguyen (13) and Adham Eleeda (10). John McElroy had 8 points for the Celtics, who, like the Doyle Seniors, will also advance to a CWOSSA qualifying game.
(2) St. Benedict 58, (3) Resurrection 43
In a battle between two of the top 3 CWOSSA junior teams, Rez held a 23-19 lead at halftime, but a strong third quarter by the Saints allowed them to take a 6-point edge heading into the final quarter, where they would maintain that cushion. Down 8 with about 3:00 to go, Rez started to play the "foul game" but the Saints would make the majority of their free throws down the stretch for the final margin. Zubair Seyed (22) and Justin Malnerich (19) paced the Saints, while Joe Hunter (16) and Ali Rashid (10) were Resurrection's top scorers.
