Trojans clobber Crusaders

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This article was published 14/03/2024 (874 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Vincent Massey Trojans have proven to be quick starters and judging by Thursday night, they’re pretty good at closing the deal, too.

Spurred on by a 25-point outing from Magnus Carlos and 23 more from Chris Piotrowski, the No. 1-ranked Trojans clobbered the fourth-seeded St. Paul’s Crusaders 98-67 in semifinal action at the Provincial AAAA varsity boys basketball championship at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Vincent Massey effectively snuffed out any St. Paul’s hopes of a provincial title three-peat with a sensational third quarter, keyed by the guard duo of Carlos and Piotrowski. The Trojans outscored the Crusaders 32-19 to take a 79-57 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

“It’s kinda been our MO this year,” said Trojans head coach Cameron Fay. “We come out strong but we have another gear in the third quarter. We talk about it, make some adjustments and I’m very fortunate — I’ve got a very good team that knows when the moment’s big and they step up. And Chris and Magnus are definitely those type of guys.”

Massey will face the Oak Park Raiders in Monday’s final at 8 p.m.

The No. 3 Raiders advanced with a 83-81 win over No. 2 Dakota Lancers in Thursday’s late semifinal.

“I take pride on the defensive end,” said Piotrowski, who added five steals and two rebounds. “I love to put all my effort on the defensive end and it rewards me on the offensive side of the ball…

“At times you need your big players to step up and we stepped up and delivered and got the win for our team. But it took all 15 of us to get it done.”

Miguel Guaring led the Crusaders with 21 points and three boards while Inderjeet Brar added 20 points, seven blocks and three rebounds.

Ellison Uwawah replied with 14 points and five rebounds for the winners.

“It was very similar to our conference final game,” said Crusaders head coach Jeff Laping. “We kind of had a great first half and they kinda did the same thing. I thought we were a little better against their zone (defence) this time but it’s hard to practise against that kind of length and athleticism to prepare you for it. Although I thought we were ready for it, we weren’t as ready as we needed to be.”

Massey’s deep bench was crucial with timely contributions from 6-7 Owen Weekes, who chipped in with five points and two rebounds, and 6-5 Jayden Westerlund, who added five points, four rebounds and two blocks.

Weekes, who led the Trojans varsity boys volleyball team to an undefeated season and a provincial AAAA championship, will be playing volleyball at the University of Manitoba in fall.

“Maybe the best volleyball player in Canada at his age — that’s not a bad guy to bring in off the bench,” said Laping of Weekes. “And Jayden Westerlund, not a lot of teams have that kind of size that can come in off the bench. With those guys, there’s not a lot of drop off when you get to the bench.”

The Crusaders, whose title runs in 2022 and 2023 were led by the dominating presence of Ramogi Nyagudi, whose transferred to DME Academy in Milwaukee for his Grade 12 season. The Crusaders are a different team without their star forward.

“We ran out of gas and they turned up the pressure on us, which is what good teams do,” said Laping.

Raiders 83 Lancers 81

Taven Vigilance’s fall-away jumper with 20.2 seconds left in the game broke a 78-78 tie and gave Oak Park a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The 6-7 guard, rated the No. 2 player in the recent Free Press coaches’ poll, ran into early foul trouble, going to the bench with a fourth personal with 7:10 remaining in the third quarter. By the time he returned to the court at the start of the fourth quarter, the Raiders had turned a two-point deficit into a 60-59 lead.

Vigilance finished the game with 39 points, including five dunks.

“Taven’s a very smart kid and the things we ask him to do, he’s very capable of it,” said Raiders head coach Cam MacNeil. “He has the ability to just take over games.”

Adrian Ortega Pelegrin had 15 points for the winners.

Kismayo De Michael had a team-high 36 points for the Lancers, hitting a three-pointer and a free throw to give Dakota a 72-67 lead with 4:15 remaining. The Raiders were undeterred.

“That’s a testament to all of our guys,” said MacNeil. “They worked so hard throughout the entire season so when you have one guy go down, the next guy’s ready to step up. That shows who we are as a team.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca