By Larry Moko
An exciting upset highlighted the semifinal round of senior boys' high school basketball playoffs.
The Bishop Ryan Celtics, whose record in the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic standings was only 7-7, travelled to the St. Jean de Brébeuf gym and defeated the Braves, 55-52, on Wednesday.
Brebeuf, in comparison, finished the regular schedule in second place with 12 wins in 14 starts. And against the Braves, the Celtics lost convincingly twice -- 66-42 and 74-46.
The Celtics will move on to face the first-place Cathedral Gaels for the championship on Feb. 18. The Gaels qualified with a 68-59 semifinal decision over the Bishop Tonnos Titans.
"It was frustrating for us this season," Celtics veteran guard Antonio Salinas said. "We knew we could do a lot better than we did.
"We just gave it our all tonight. We didn't want this to be our last game."
Salinas and forward Kai Olak paced the BR attack with 19 and 18 points, respectively. Adam Adili rounded out the Celtics scoring by sinking a pair of free-throw attempts in the closing seconds.
The Braves got 18 points by Omaree Francis, 12 by Liam Acquah and nine apiece by Alex-Balogh-Iredale and Carter Deleplante.
"It was a one-possession game," Braves coach Nathan Bruzzese said. "It could have gone either way."
The Celtics led 31-30 at the half and extended their advantage to 47-41 at the three-quarter mark.
Brébeuf then went on a 6-0 run to begin the fourth before Sean Okafor drained a three-point shot and Salinas netted a runner to restore BR's lead to five.
A putback basket by Balogh-Iredale narrowed the gap to one point with 9.3 seconds left.
"It was a great game for our school," Bishop Ryan coach Mike Diclaudio said. "Brébeuf is a fantastic team. Our guys came together and worked their butts off. That's the result you get."
Diclaudio said the game plan worked.
"It was a certain way to play defence and how to play some of their best players," the BR coach explained. "We executed that for I'd say 90 per cent of the game. We had a couple of mental lapses but that's the way it goes sometimes.
"This was one of the best games I've ever been part of. We were confident going in. I told the guys not to play scared."
Salinas, who fouled out with three minutes left, turned in a solid all-around performance.
"Antonio is a leader and the team's best point guard," Diclaudio. " I said to him at school yesterday that best players play big in big games.
"He's a warrior. He always tries to take charges ... he got a little unlucky on the last one."
Said Salinas: "We focused on defence. We had to be on top of our press break. I do whatever the team needs. Today I stepped up and hit a lot of good shots."
Bishop Ryan's losses to defending-champion Cathedral this season were by scores of 82-54 and 71-57.
"Hats off to them," Bruzzese said. "They're definitely a hard-working basketball team. Mike is probably my favourite coach in the city. He gets his guys fired up and ready to go.
"They make games physical and a little bit ugly, but it's the way they want to play. If they play like that next Wednesday they've got a chance against Cathedral."
The Gaels only loss in league play this season was against Tonnos.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
More photos on HWCDSB Athletics Facebook page
