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Junior
Boys Basketball
St.
Peter advances to
Tier 1 junior boys basketball championship
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans
Online
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|  The
St. Peter Knights' Sean Decloux throws
up a shot against the Louis-Riel Rebelles' Raphael Richer during the junior boys
Tier 1 East Conference final on Thursday. Fred Sherwin/Photo
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The St.
Peter Knights punched their ticket to the NCSSAA Tier 1 junior boys basketball
championship next week following a 67-53 defeat of the Louis-Riel Rebelles in
the East Conference final on Thursday. The
Knights will face the Sacred Heart Huskies in the.title game next Tuesday after
the Huskies downed Sir Robert Borden 47-44 in the West Conference final. In
knocking off the previously undefeated Rebelles, the Knights avenged one of only
two losss they suffered during the regular season. The
Rebelles posted a 52-39 victory over St. Pete`s on their home floor back on Feb.
1. The two teams returned to the scene of the crime on Thursday and the Knights
were determined to prevent a similar outcome. The
Knights jumped out to a 23-15 first quarter lead thanks in large part to a trio
of three-point baskets by Mike Zablocki and an 11 point opening quarter performance
by David Nwosu who drained a three-point shot as well. The
Rebelles tried their best to chip away at the Knights`lead in the second quarter
with 10 points, but St. Pete`s was able to keep pace with nine points of their
own, including Zablocki`s fourth three-point shot of the half, and by the midway
point of the game the Knights were up 32-25. St.
Pete`s extended their lead to nine points in the third quarter and then totally
take control of the game in fourth, thanks to the free throw shooting abilities
of Nwosu and Zablocki who went 8-for-13 combined down the stretch from the foul
line. Zablocki
also made two more three-point shots in the fourth quarter to give him six on
the afternoon. He ended the game with 24 points, one less than Nwosu who scored
a game high 25. The
Rebelles big man on the inside, Raphael Richer, scored a game high 22 points for
Louis-Riel in a losing cause. After
the game, Knights head coach Mark MacKay said his team made several offensive
adjustments heading into the contest and decided to rely on the half court press,
which they didn't use at all during their mid-season loss to Louis-Riel. When
asked if he was worried that his team might suffer a letdown heading into next
week's championship game after such an emotional win, MacKay said he wasn't worried
at all. "We
had our letdown In January," MacKay said, referring to the Knights first
loss of the season against Gisele-Lalonde. "The guys are focused on winning
the championship. This was just one more step towards that goal." The
Knights are the prohibitive favourites heading into next week's championship final,
despite the fact that Sacred Heart is the only remaining undefeated team in the
city. The main reason for that is the quality of teams in the east. Besides St.
Peter and Louis-Riel, the St. Matthew Tigers were also consider to be among the
elite teams in the city. Although they were 2-1 against the Rebelles, they lost
all four of their games against the Knights. (Posted
3 p.m., Feb.26) Return
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