By Larry Moko
It was a successful homecoming of sorts for Cathedral Gaels' coach Jacob Cordero.
The visitors from Cathedral defeated the St. Jean de Brébeuf Braves, 82-66, Thursday in the final game of the 2025-26 Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic senior boys' high school basketball schedule.
At stake was first-place in the standings. Both teams came in with a record of 12-1.
"I'm a former Brebeuf student and I won two basketball championships while I was here," Cordero said. "So it was awesome being back for the first time tonight. It was fun."
Cordero recalled capturing a title in his novice year and then repeating the accomplishment at the senior level when he was in Grade 11.
"We had a strong team and Jae Dunphy was an incredible coach. He helped me learn a lot about the game."
Cordero also defeated his alma mater earlier this season at Cathedral's gym, 77-55.
In the return match, Brebeuf raced out to an 8-0 lead. The Gaels, however, immediately replied with 11 unanswered points of their own. And by the end of the first quarter, Cathedral stretched its advantage to 24-12.
The defending-champion Gaels then took a 50-35 lead into the half and were up 62-50 at the three-quarter mark.
Quinton O'Connor was Cathedral's top pointer-getter with 20. Mekhi Bennett scored 16 points, Josh Granger-Bigford and Mohamed Yusuf Mohamed chipped in with 14 apiece and Samuel Wleh added eight.
For Brébeuf, Omaree Francis tossed in 23 points. Liam Acquah, Carter Deleplante and Alex Balogh-Iredale followed with 13, 10 and nine points, respectively.
"It was an intense basketball game," Brébeuf coach Nathan Bruzzese said. "Two good teams were going at it and playing tough. It's what you would expect in a city like Hamilton."
Twelve of Cathedral's baskets came from behind the arc.
"They have a bunch of guys that can knock down the outside shot," Bruzzese said.
"Basketball is a game of runs. They made runs and we made runs. Ultimately one of their runs was bigger than ours. That was the difference."
Cordero said he doesn't like to over react to the opposing team's string of points. "I don't usually call time out right away," the first-year Gaels coach said. "I kind of let my guys figure it out.
"If they can figure it out while we're in that tough situation facing adversity, it's better for them in the long run."
Although Gaels' forward Sander Lukasik Foss only scored three points, he battled under the basket and received praise from his coach. Lukasik Foss was a last-minute replacement for Aaron Daly, who was injured earlier in the week at the St. Paul's tournament in Niagara.
"That was a big hit for us," Cordero said of Daly's shoulder injury. "But Sander played phenomenal with Aaron out. He shows up for games, works and is a high-energy guy."
At St. Paul's, Cathedral won the tournament, defeating a team from Virginia in the final. Overall, it was the Gaels fourth tournament championship of the season (Pinky Lewis, Mark Walton, Silver Fox and St. Paul's).
Cathedral is also scheduled to return to the court Feb. 6-7 for the 49th-annual Ontario Catholic Classic tournament in St. Catharines.
The Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic league playoffs begin Monday, Feb. 9 with all teams qualifying. Quarter-finals have the ACMT Jaguars (0-14) facing Cathedral, Brebeuf taking on the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals (4-10), the St. Mary Crusaders (6-8) going up against the Bishop Ryan Celtics (7-7) and the Bishop Tonnos Titans (7-7) playing St. Thomas More's Knights (7-7).
"Our team hasn't practised in a month," Cordero said. "We've got a lot of things to work on.
"I think we played amazing in this game but now it's getting the kids to understand the job is not nearly complete."
Bruzzese is also a former Braves player. He won three championships as a student-athlete -- one junior title followed by back-to-back senior titles.
"I told the guys, win or lose this game, you don't get a team photo in champions row out there (the hallway adjoining the gym) for coming first in the regular season.
"At the end of the day you've got to win three games in a row. Our focus has been on that all year."
Other final scores Thursday were: Bishop Ryan 64 Newman 46; Tonnos 59 ACMT 54; St. Mary 72 More 67.
The junior and novice league quarter-final playoffs also get under way Monday, Feb. 9.
Tonnos (11-1) finished atop the junior standings while More (14-0) led the pack in novice.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
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