Vincent Massey, St. Paul’s High School fall to Oak Park

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This article was published 24/03/2017 (3449 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two of the province’s top high school basketball teams wrapped up challenging seasons with a pair of finalists’ banners at the provincial AAAA championship on March 20.

The Vincent Massey Collegiate Trojans varsity girls were defeated 81-67 by the Oak Park Raiders at Investors Group Athletic Centre in the final, while St. Paul’s Crusaders varsity boys were also edged out by the Raiders, 78-73.

Trojans head coach Stacy Hawash said her team, seeded No. 1 heading into the provincial tournament, fought hard against the Raiders but suffered from a poor shooting percentage and a weak start.

“We battled back,” Hawash said. “The ball wasn’t falling for us so we had to battle pretty hard in the second half and I thought we tried but we just couldn’t get over the hump. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Hawash said No. 2-seeded Oak Park brought strong defence and made lots of shots.

“Credit to them, they came out ready to play,” she said.

Vincent Massey’s Niyah Becker and Victoria Tachinski were both named tournament all-stars for their performance in the final.

“Niyah definitely worked hard to take us to the hoop in the second half and Victoria Tachinski picked up her defence and worked hard,” Hawash said.

On the boys side, St. Paul’s head coach Jeff Laping said the team is feeling some pain after coming so close to the title.

Heading into the final quarter, the Crusaders had tied up the game 58-58 after trailing the Raiders but were unable to pull much farther ahead in the fourth, losing by just five points.

“That third quarter we really made a concerted effort to rebound the ball better,” Laping said. “So heading into the fourth we made a bit of a run and decided to go with that same group of guys and in hindsight perhaps we kind of went a bit too long with them. We sort of ran out of gas in the second half.”

Reflecting on the season, Laping said there is a lot to be thankful for in a league where nothing was guaranteed and reaching the Final Four was an admirable goal.

“There’s a lot to be proud of for our guys in the strides and improvements they made. I’m certainly proud of where we came from and what we became. But you still have regrets when you get that close and it slips through your fingers,” he said.

St. Paul’s players Mark Tachie and Matt Yaworsky were both named tournament all-stars.

“Matt Yaworsky… over the course of season we asked him to guard the best player in the province (Wyatt Tait) and he really made him work for everything he got in the final,” Laping said. “And I think Mark Tachie, we saw in the Final Four, is just a very special player and I think he’s going to be extremely good, and we look forward to what he’s going to do next year.”