The Holy Trinity Academy Knights lost in a tournament final last weekend to an opponent they will likely see again.
The Knights were beaten 65-53 by their 3A South Central foe, the Springbank Phoenix, at the Ponoka Pump Classic Senior boys’ basketball tournament on Saturday.
“They are definitely someone we will have to get by later in the season,” said Knights coach Sam Aiello. “It was a good weekend. I would have liked to have won but we got lots of minutes for our guys.”
With every game the Knights are getting more comfortable with their fast-break offence installed this season.
“We are starting to get used to running with the ball,” Aiello said. “We still have more turnovers than I would like, but it is definitely coming.”
Holy Trinity opened the tournament with a convincing 75-47 victory over the 4A Lindsay Thurber Raiders from Red Deer.
“We matched up against them size wise, but we were just much better defensively,” Aiello said. “We also moved the ball well and had a lot of good looks inside. We also moved the ball well on the fast break… We beat them down the floor quite a bit.”
James LaGrange led the Knights with 20 points while Luke Sinclair finished with 13 points and Mark Oness contributed 10 points in the Knights’ victory.
The Knights then turned into the ultimate party-poopers when they downed the host Ponoka Broncs in the tournament semifinal. The hometown crowd was tantalized with an apparent Ponoka victory only to have the win snatched away.
“We were down the entire game and didn’t take the lead until there were three minutes left,” Aiello said. “Ponoka isn’t that big but they are very scrappy and work hard.”
Two can play at that game. The Knights also played like a junkyard dog and kept the game close until the final minutes.
They took the lead when LaGrange hit a three-point shot from near Hobbema to make it 53-52 for HTA.
“James has stepped up to be our offensive leader,” Aiello said. “He is also passing the ball well.”
He led the Knights’ attack with 29 points against Ponoka.
The Knights then squared off against the Phoenix in the tournament final.
“It was 23-22 at halftime for them and no one got up by more than five or six points,” Aiello said. “When they were up by three of four in the last few minutes, we put some pressure on them. Springbank made some huge shots near the end.”
The Phoenix then pulled away for the 65-53 victory.
LaGrange once again led the Knights in scoring with 27 points. Zach Vantverve gave some solid minutes for HTA and contributed seven points.
Aiello said it was a solid game by both teams.
“After the game, the Springbank coach Danny Eveleigh came up to me and said: ‘Good game we will likely see you again at zones.’”
The Knights don’t play in any more tournaments until the new year.
