Article By: Rob Massey
GUELPH — The Bishop Macdonell Celtics shook
off the after-effects of their first loss of the District 10 high school
senior boys' basketball league.
Despite a slow start, the Celtics got back
on the winning path Tuesday with a 50-35 victory over the Ross Royals as
the league reached the halfway point of its regular season.
"We sat back and had a look at how big they
were, tried to figure it out and worked from there," Bishop Mac coach
Trevor Smith said of the slow start. "They're an intimidating team,
seeing their size and what not."
"Both teams weren't hitting their shots, but
both teams were playing good defence and rebounding hard," Bishop Mac
guard Jake Chaput said. "It was just two teams playing good defence on
each other and not playing good offence."
The teams were tied 4-4 midway through the
first quarter and the Celtics were up 10-7 at the end of the first
quarter. They stretched their lead to 28-18 at halftime and kept it at
10 points (41-31) at the end of the third quarter.
Last week the Celtics were defeated by the
St. James Lions in a battle for first place that involved two teams that
entered the game with unbeaten records.
"We lost a tough one against St. James,"
Smith said. "We knew they were good, but we were really happy with the
way we played. Our biggest concern after every single game this year is
to do a body check and make sure everybody's healthy. If everybody's
healthy, there's no concerns."
The Celtics are a young team that continues
to learn on the court. They are an experienced senior team, though, as
three of their players played senior last season although they were
still eligible for junior.
"Everything we do, win or lose, is
learning," Smith said. "I think they learned a ton from a talented St.
James team and we'll move on and try to get better."
"We normally bounce back pretty well from
losses," Chaput said. "We lost to (Centre Wellington) in a tournament
and then we came back and beat Centennial in a tough game."
Chaput was one of the players who played senior last season when he was in Grade 10.
"Last year was pretty hard," he said. "This
year it's a bit easier, but it's still hard so I keep working. It is a
bit easier this year because I'm a bit bigger and stronger."
Chris Poloniato and Lucas Wood connected for
11 points apiece for Bishop Mac while Evan Hosker and Greg MacEachern
had eight each and Jake Chaput had seven.
Tommy Yanchus had a game-high 21 points for Ross while Andrew Folkerson added four.
Tuesday's game marked the midway point of
the season for both the Celtics and Royals. The intensity level will
likely increase as teams play opponents for the second time this season.
"It gets tougher," Smith said. "Obviously
the element of surprise is out. All the teams have seen us and they know
what we do and we know what they do. It's a lot harder. There are
probably five or six teams in this league that have a legitimate shot at
making it to the final. Every team can put together a game plan now
because they know what every other team does. It makes it that much more
difficult."
"It'll get tougher because everyone will
have played more as a team and they'll know their stuff and know their
plays," Chaput said. "And full-court presses – last year in the second
half, every single game was a grind and I expect the same again this
year."
St. James 69 Lourdes 43
Joey Hasson struck for 19 points for St.
James while Mitch Marquis had eight. Craig Valeriote hit for 18 for
Lourdes while David Khayapangi had 16.
Centennial 66 Guelph CVI 39
Jasmer Brar connected for 24 points for Centennial while David Sydor had 14 for GCVI.
Centre Wellington 58 Lourdes 40
Josh McEachern's 28 points led Centre
Wellington while Ty Uhrig had nine. David Khayipangi led Lourdes with 14
while Craig Valeriote had 13.
D10 Jr. Boys Basketball
St. James 64 Orangeville 60
Jeff Morales connected for 24 points for St.
James while Mike Piovesan added 11. Nigel Carey Kochan had a game-high
27 for Orangeville while Graydon Lindsay netted 15.
Centre Wellington 77 Lourdes 45
Cole Newton led Centre Wellington with 15 points while David Casupanan had 18 for Lourdes.
Mike Piovesan collected 22 points for St.
James while Jeff Morales gathered 12 and Matt Zen added nine. Melvin
Servida had eight for Bishop Mac while Matteo Stradiotto followed with
seven.
Centennial 53 Guelph CVI 49
Tommy Neild netted 15 points to lead
Centennial while Cole Godman had 11. Lincoln Rosebush hit for 27 for
GCVI while Rip Singh followed with eight.
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