With some home cooking on the menu this week, the Holy Cross boys basketball team is on a hot streak.
The team sizzled on Saturday night (Jan. 12) in winning the high-profile Jonathan Taylor Legal Beagle Invitational Tournament in Port Coquitlam, where they fried Oak Bay 73-58 in the final at Terry Fox Secondary.
This week, the Fleetwood-area school plays host to the long-running BC Catholics Basketball Championships, which involves 18 boys and girls teams, starting Wednesday (Jan. 16).
Holy Cross head coach Anthony Pezzente said that while his team is gelling right now, it鈥檚 still too early for his boys to be playing 鈥減eak basketball,鈥� with playoffs on the horizon.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e well on our way to understanding what our peak basketball can be and what that looks like,鈥� Pezzente said Tuesday.
鈥淲e see that in spurts right now but it鈥檚 just not consistent enough for four quarters,鈥� he added. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 really played at that really high level for a full game yet, and to be honest I鈥檓 glad we鈥檙e not doing that yet, because if we鈥檙e doing that right now, there鈥檚 no way to improve and get better. We still have close to a month of playoffs. We鈥檙e on our way there, just not there yet, but that鈥檚 a good thing for mid-January.鈥�
At the Legal Beagle tourney, Holy Cross鈥� Michael Risi earned Player of the Game honours in the championship game, and was also named Top Defensive Player for the tournament and a first-team all-star. The tourney鈥檚 Most Valuable Player was Uyi Ologhola, and fellow Crusader Brent Padilla earned second-team all-star recognition.
Here are your Top 3 teams from the Jonathan Taylor Legal Beagle Invitational tournament at Terry Fox this weekend, Congratulations to the following 3 teams:
鈥� Terry Fox Athletics (@TFSAthletics)
1st Holy Cross
2nd Oak Bay
3rd Terry Fox
Last fall, at the start of the high school basketball season, some Holy Cross players were still playing football with the Crusaders, in Subway Bowl playoffs at BC Place Stadium.
鈥淲e had four guys playing football and they made it to the second last weekend of the season, in the provincial finals, so we entered our (basketball) season with really only having two full practices as a team, so there were some initial struggles early,鈥� Pezzente explained.
鈥淭he first month was a lot of learning for us, and we had a lot to improve upon and we weren鈥檛 as good as we thought we were, and some other people thought we were, but it turned out to be really beneficial for us because the guys kind of bought in and worked hard, and we improved a lot of things.
鈥淚 still think we have a lot to improve upon, and we鈥檙e still not there yet, in terms of how good we can be and want to be, but we鈥檙e coming along nicely and we鈥檙e at a good point right now.鈥�
鈥� RELATED STORY: 性视界传媒鈥檚 Holy Cross boys take BC Catholics championship for third year in a row, from January 2018.
At the 30th annual BC Catholics last January, Holy Cross won the tourney title for a third year in a row after defeating Vancouver College 61-52 in the final. The two teams have faced each other in the championship game three years running, with the Crusaders victorious every time.
In the 2018 girls final, St. Thomas Aquinas beat St. Thomas More by a score of 49-37.
Here鈥檚 the BC Catholics tourney sched for games at etc. this week.
鈥� Tom Zillich (@TomZillich)
鈥淲e鈥檝e been hosting it (the BC Catholics) forever,鈥� Pezzente said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a fun tournament, because it鈥檚 not just about basketball, and there鈥檚 so much emotion in this tournament, especially for our kids because it鈥檚 in our gym. The stands are packed and there鈥檚 a lot of energy in the games.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a marathon for the players,鈥� he added, 鈥渁nd by the end of it they鈥檙e exhausted, emotionally drained as well, you know. It鈥檚 nerve-wracking playing in front of 800 of your friends and fellow students. But that pressure is good because come February and the playoffs, that kind of pressure will be there for us.鈥�
On the web, look for BC Catholics scores and schedules at , and tourney updates at .
Because of the timing of the BC Catholics tournament, Holy Cross won鈥檛 compete in this week鈥檚 性视界传媒 RCMP Classic, which kicked off Sunday (Jan. 13). The all-性视界传媒 boys basketball tournament involves close to 650 student athletes, at school gyms across the city.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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