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is id eh al to n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ar ch 1 ,2 01 8 | f e BASKETBALL Inspired Ridge players net Halton basketball title HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@burlington post, com The Iroquois Ridge Trailblazers had their own reasons for looking forward to the Halton se­ nior boys' basketball final. Luka Mircetic was looking to match up against his friend. Bishop Quaye was hoping to ho­ nour one by bringing home a championship. While Mircetic didn't get his wish, Quaye did. Ir­ oquois Ridge built a 15- point lead by halftime on its way to a 63-43 win over the Garth Webb Chargers on Feb. 21 in Halton senior boys' basketball final. Iroquois Ridge and Garth Webb finished tied atop the Volpe Division with identical 8-2 records and split their regular- season meetings, the Chargers winning by two in December and Ridge winning by six in earlier this month. In those games, Mircet­ ic and Webb's Zoran Savic waged a friendly battle on the court, so with both teams on course to reach the final, Mircetic was hoping for another head- to-head matchup for the championship. It wouldn't materialize, though, with Savic side­ lined with a broken arm sustained in an earlier Webb playoff win. "We're childhood friends and we played rep together last year. I went to visit him after it hap­ pened," said Mircetic, who had 11 points and 11 re­ bounds in the final. "It's too bad. He's a great player and I was looking forward to the challenge of guard­ ing him." Meanwhile, Quaye was inspired by the loss of a friend, Daniel Kelly, who died last September. "This one means a lot," the Ridge guard said. "I was devoted to getting a championship. When we were practising at 6:45 in the morning, grinding ev­ ery single day, I was think­ ing about him." Quaye wasted little time doing his part. His three-pointer capped a game-opening 9-0 run in which he scored seven of the points. Despite the ef­ forts of Ilija Milivojevic (10 points in the game) and Chris Tani (15), who ac­ counted for all of the Char­ gers' first 15 points, Webb never managed to lower the deficit beyond five points. Daniel Jurkovic made sure of that with 11 of his game-high 19 points in the second quarter. "We wanted to come out strong and let them chase us," Mircetic said. "Our main focus was rebound­ ing, running and getting fast-break points." Though the teams had some spirited games this season, the rivalry dates back three years, since the Trailblazers beat Webb in the junior tier 2 final. They've followed each oth­ er up the ranks until emerging as tier 1 con­ tenders this season. "We both play aggres­ sively. We go out and play hard and it gets intense," said Quaye, who had 13 points. "It's a good rival­ ry." Iroquois Ridge coach Decee Krah said the Trail- blazers couldn't underes­ timate Webb, even with­ out Savic in the lineup. "We have to prepare for every team. We have to play hard and always try to get that W," he said. "Our guys did a good job of the fundamentals. They were usually in position and they did a fantastic job. They listened and they were able to adjust as the game went on." Iroquois Ridge will now play host to Halton Catholic champion Holy Trinity Friday in the Gol­ den Horseshoe Athletic Conference AAA semifi­ nals at 3:30 p.m. • MORE ONLINE See more photos online at insidehalton.com/photos Nikki Wesley/Metroland Iroquois Ridge's Seif Seraceldin shoots over Chris Tani during the senior boys basketball final action with Iroquois Ridge beating Garth Webb at Sheridan College on Wednesday afternoon. February 21, 2018 leads Trinity to Halton Catholic basketball title HIGHSCHOOL Briscoe Grade 11 student scores 33 points in win over Corpus Christi HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@burlingtonpost.com As players, coaches, par­ ents, alumni and fans milled about on the St. Thomas Aquinas gym floor, the lights began to flicker on and off. It was a not-to-subtle hint that maybe it was time to go home. Really, no one would have been surprised had it hap­ pened an hour or so earlier. After a season of close, edge-of-your-seat, nail-bit­ ing finishes in the Halton Catholic senior boys' basket­ ball league, Holy Trinity's Anthony Briscoe's lights-out shooting led the Titans to a 67-40 victory in the Halton Catholic Athletic Associa­ tion senior boys' basketball championship. Briscoe con­ nected on 10 three pointers on his way to a 33-point game. "My teammates made it easy for me," the Grade 11 student said. "They kept finding me and I got hot. I was feeling it." "The guys did a good job of getting him good looks and once he saw one fall, he got on a roll," said Trinity coach Andrew Saulez, "so we just rode the hot hand." In addition to Briscoe, Trinity got 16 points from Dante Richards and eight from Max Campanelli. Cor­ pus Christi was led by Tim Mununga, who had 15. With seven threes in the opening half, Briscoe out- scored the Longhorns all by himself with his 23 first-half points. That was also largely due to the Titans defence, which held Corpus Christi to just four points in the second quarter, allowing Trinity to build a 38-18 lead by the half. The Longhorns hadn't been held to less than 60 points in league play all season. "They did a good job fol­ lowing the game plan," Sau­ lez said. "They were engaged and they really executed. There were a couple small mistakes in the first half, but (Corpus Christi) is a really good basketball team. You make mistakes and they will make you pay." It was Briscoe that made the Longhorns pay Wednes­ day. He was a member of the Holy Trinity junior team that lost a lopsided decision in last year's Halton final. This year, Corpus Christi handed the 13-2 Titans their biggest loss, 79-60, in league play. "This one means a lot to us," he said, "but our sea­ son's not done. We still have GHAC and hopefully OF- SAA." Holy Trinity followed up with a 68-54 win over Iro­ quois Ridge to advance to the GHAC final. mailto:hgarbutt@burlingtonpost.com • MORE ONLINE