The Holy Trinity Academy Knights found their zone in winning their third straight boys basketball tournament last weekend.
The Knights found themselves down 26-19 after the first quarter against the host of the Sir Winston Churchill Sr. boys basketball tournament Dec. 14 in Calgary when a change was way better than a rest.
“The biggest thing was when coach (Sam Aiello) switched us to a 2-3 zone,” said Knights guard Riley Thorn. “It really made it difficult for them (the Bulldogs) to drive in the middle.”
The Knights would take a 49-46 lead at the half, en route to taking the title by outlasting the Bulldogs 89-76.
Clogging up the middle on the Bulldogs was a whole lot of Knights’ armour.
“I have to give credit to our big guys down low – Mason (Black) and Tobias (Krueger), Ben (Leggett), Michael (Peloso), and Caelan Kiejko,” Thorn said. “Mason is a big rebounder for our team. That’s one thing coach says: ‘it’s one shot (for the opposition), and out.”’
Black does more work on the glass than a window painter during Christmas.
He had four points in the victory, but pulled down 19 rebounds (six offensive, 13 defensive).
The next highest Knight had six.
“It’s just finding a body and boxing out — and communicating with your teammates,” Black said of his rebounding prowess. “It’s an essential part of the game, I just like to help the team even if it’s without points.”
However, you need points to win a game.
Elias Ralph led the Knights with 26 points with radar-like precision from beyond the arc. He hit eight out of 13 three-point attempts.
Miguel Yu and Thorn, who was named the Knights’ game MVP, had 13 each and Easton Bishop had 10.
The Knights had 19 threes in the game — more than their 14 of the two-point variety.
The Knights opened the tournament with a hard-fought 84-81 victory over the St. Mary’s Saints.
Ralph once again led the way with 19 points while Krueger pitched in 17. Thorn and Black had 10 each.
The Knights then knocked off the Father Lacombe Lasers 77-72 in the semifinal.
Bishop led the team in scoring with 13 points.
Aiello said it was a big tournament victory for the Knights.
“We were waiting for this weekend. We had talked before that this will give us a gauge as to whether we belong with the top 15 teams in the province,” Aiello said. “I think we showed we are right there with them... It was our whole team. We rolled our players.
“I think we just had more depth than Churchill.”
HTA opened the week by beating the Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartans on Dec. 11 to remain undefeated in the Foothills Athletic Council at 2-0.
The Knights are in Strathmore on Dec. 18 to take on the Spartans in Foothills Athletic Council action.
The Knights will then be off for the Christmas break. Their home tournament is Jan. 10-11.
