SJB Rallies Late to Defeat STM, 64–58
By Larry Moko
The St. Jean de Brebeuf Braves are off to a fast start with two victories on consecutive nights to open the 2025-26 senior boys' high school basketball season.
On Wednesday, the Braves rallied from a six-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the visiting St. Thomas More Knights, 64-58. That result followed their 77-62 Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic league win the night before over the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals.
"As a coaching staff we're very pleased with this group," Brebeuf coach Nathan Bruzzese said.
"When we're warming up, we might not look like a dominant team, but we've got a group that really likes playing together. And we're having a lot of fun coaching them.
"If we stick together we can do some pretty special things this year."
More (0-2) led 28-25 at the half and 48-43 entering the final eight minutes.
"Both teams were playing a back-to-back," Bruzzese said, "so I kind of expected the energy to drop a little from last night. The energy level rose in the fourth quarter, though. That's where we were able to take the lead near the end."
Brebeuf finally overtook the Knights, at 59-57, on a layup- and-one-play by Liam Acquah with 95 seconds remaining. Acquah also had seconds earlier pulled down a defensive rebound.
"For a Grade 11, Liam is a big guy who is imposing his will down low," the Braves coach said. "He's got a chance to be a pretty good player."
Karl Belony then provided some insurance with a three-point basket and teammate veteran Omaree Francis capped the scoring with two successful free throws.
Francis was the game's top scorer with 22 points. Belony tossed in 12 points, while Acquah and Alex Balogh-Iredale added nine and eight points, respectively.
More got 14 points by Zion Stevens. Martin Kashwol contributed 13, Nyzaiah Bernard scored 11 and Javier Scott chipped in with 10.
More coach Adriano Grilli said the Knights didn't execute well enough defensively.
"We didn't get enough stops," he said, "and we didn't contest out there on their threes."
Grilli also pointed out that More failed to latch on to key rebounds down the stretch.
In its opening game, More yielded 105 points in a 47-point loss to the defending league champion Cathedral Gaels.
"The bottom line was we didn't slow that game down," the Knights coach said of the Cathedral contest. "They're a quick team. They like to pressure. We didn't do a good job of getting back in transition."
According to Grilli, the Knights are strong in terms of guard athleticism, ball handling and taking it to the basket.
"I feel like we play a lot of smallball," he added. "We've got guys that can shoot."
In Tuesday's other games, the Bishop Ryan Celtics topped the ACMT Jaguars, 57-28, and the Bishop Tonnos Titans downed the St. Mary Crusaders, 62-57.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
More photos on the HWCDSB Athletics Facebook page here
