Article By: Rob Massey
GUELPH — Lacking a little in height, the St.
James Lions will rely on their speed for any success they have in the
District 10 high school boys' basketball league this season.
"We weren't very big last year and we're
shorter this year," St. James coach Bob Sharpe said. "I think we're
quicker than we were last year and I think we're deeper than we were
last year. And we're a year older."
"We're very fast," Alex Durigon said. He led
the Lions with 17 points in a 68-51 victory over the Lourdes Crusaders
Tuesday that was the third win in as many league outings this season for
St. James. "We're not very big, but we make up for it with our speed."
The returning Lions are trying to build on
their success from last season. They finished fourth in the D10 league
and reached the semifinals before advancing to the CWOSSA AAA tournament
that they won.
"We've got a very veteran team," Sharpe
said. "We start five 12 pluses and academically so. They're not back
just to play basketball because I wouldn't have it that way. We expect a
lot from them because they are a veteran team. Some of these guys we've
had for three years and they've been playing together longer than
that."
The Lions can also rely on their depth. They
had eight players on the bench in the win over Lourdes and all eight
saw floor time.
"If somebody in our starting lineup has an
off game, we have enough guys on the bench that can step up and have a
good game," Durigon said. He came off the bench to lead the Lions in
scoring.
"Everybody can play."
The teams started Tuesday's game cautiously
and were tied 9-9 after four minutes before the Lions jumped into a lead
they wouldn't relinquish with a 15-2 run in the remainder of the first
quarter. St. James was up 24-11 after that quarter, 35-21 at halftime
and 55-36 after the third quarter.
Joey Hasson had 15 points for the Lions
while Mitch Marquis collected 12, Quinn Feeney had eight and Erwin
Tapnio netted six.
David Khayipangi hit for 14 points for
Lourdes while Alex Hudecki had 12, Adam Samson 10 and J.J. Mamon six.
For the Crusaders, this season has started
with three consecutive losses. They had little preparation time before
the start of league play thanks to the success of the school's football
team that reached the CWOSSA final. Khayipangi and Craig Valeriote were
members of the football squad.
"We're probably two weeks behind and we need
to build from here," Lourdes coach Mike O'Rourke said. "We have a
winning culture in that locker-room right now from football and from
other sports. We just need to keep building."
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