D8 Semifinals: Seyed Leads Saints to Victory

One streak down, another one to go.

The St. Benedict Saints will be making their first D8 Senior Finals appearance since 2003 on Friday evening at St. Mary's, after the #2-seeded Saints defeated Resurrection, 64-45, in their semifinal game on Wednesday afternoon.

After Rez scored the first points of the game on an Ali Rashid three-pointer, St. Benedict's hot shooting helped them reel off 18 consecutive first-quarter points en route to an 18-5 lead at the end of the opening frame.

The Saints shot over 60% from the floor for the game, and were led by Zubair Seyed's 30-point effort which was done on a very efficient 9-for-14 shooting afternoon.  

Alex Douglas had (quite literally) a perfect day, going 5-for-5 from 2-point range, 2-for-2 from behind the arc and adding in 3 points from the FT line for a D8 season high of 19 points.

Rez was led by a double-double from Muyang Iluya (14 points and 10 rebounds) and Korbil Gany, who had 12.

Eagles Cruise To Senior Final
The St. Mary's Eagles will be making their 10th consecutive D8 finals appearance after they cruised to a 70-40 win over the #4-seeded St. David Celtics.

Tyrick Thompson had 13 and Nathan Riley 12 for the balanced Eagle attack, while Mason Cumming had a game-high 16 for the Celts.

Junior Semifinals
The home teams in the D8 Junior semifinals both advanced with double-digit victories over their opposition.

Top-seeded St. David scored a 62-47 win over Resurrection, with John Winnett netting 22 and Brent Lasovich adding 16 points.  Jamu Iluya had 19 for the Phoenix.

At St. Mary's, the Eagles won 66-46 to keep their streak of D8 finals appearances alive --- also extending their run of making the championship game to a decade.

Tyreak Farquharson had 20 and Kanayo Nnadi added 12 for the Eagles; Jacob Polski had 14 for the Saints.