In All-Saints Semi-Final Matchup, St. George's Prevails over St. Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas Aquinas v. St. George’s
Saturday, December 10th, 2022
Written by Scott Leigh, Handsworth ‘06
We have an all Saints semi-final matchup this Saturday morning at Carson Graham, with St. George’s battling St. Thomas Aquinas. Big man #15 for STA, Declan Cutler, is making his presence felt early on both ends of the court; starting with a two-handed slam down the middle of the lane, and quickly followed that up with a big block on the other end of the court. He’s got the height advantage against St. George’s, so it will be interesting to see the defensive tactics that are implemented to counter that 4 inch difference. Both teams have started this game shooting the ball well and capitalizing on their opportunities around the hoop. Everything the crowd was hoping for in the first quarter, with the game tied at 19-19 at the end of the first quarter.
After an offensive first quarter, both teams have settled in defensively and all buckets scored in the first few minutes of the second quarter have been well-earned, to say the least. After exchanging a series of baskets, STA built up the first notable lead in this game going up 7 with under 5 minutes left in the half. St. George’s aren’t too interested in letting this game get out of hand heading into the half, and have quickly erased that lead and tied this game back up at 28 a piece. No doubt these teams have one eye on the finals, as St. George’s looks to defend its No Regrets title and STA looks to make its first No Regrets finals appearance. St. George’s has found some ways to frustrate STA’s offense by doubling Cutler in the low post and forcing STA to find other ways to score. Much like the first, we are all tied up 31-31 at the half.
Halftime Fact: Never in the history of high school basketball in BC has there been a Saints v. Saints matchup.
STA has come out of the gates hot at the beginning of the third quarter, earning themselves a quick 6 point lead. In what is becoming a similar pattern, STA earns a bit of a lead and then St. George’s come fighting back and get themselves right back into the game. St. George’s has earned their first lead in a while, taking a 2 point lead momentarily. We almost witnessed the roof blow off of this gym, as Cutler came down the lane for the big one-handed dunk but miscalculated by an inch. With one quarter remaining, St. George’s has a slight lead, up 49-47.
It seems that both teams may be suffering from a bit of fatigue, as the jumpers are starting to come up a bit short. The winner of this game may end up being the team that can muster up the strength to finish this game off. The physicality of the game has continuously increased as the game has gone on. Neither of these teams are interested in being the losing Saint, and they are willing to put their bodies on the line to make sure of it. After Cutler gets the big block, he is quickly hit with a technical foul and given St. George’s an extra possession after the free throw attempt. St. George’s is applying three quarter court pressure and looking to take STA out of their halfcourt sets. The combination of the pressure and collapsing all defenders when the ball enters the post is forcing STA to get creative offensively.
A couple of big stops defensively by St. George’s turned into fastbreak layups, which gave St. George’s a 7 point lead with 3 and a half minutes remaining. A turnover at midcourt is quickly picked up, and #24 for St. George’s, Will Hyland, took the opportunity and finished it in style with the big dunk down the lane which is the exclamation point that put this game to bed. #13 for St. George’s, Isaac Brown, has earned a well deserved POG; he was effective in all aspects of his game, and was the ultimate closer his team needed to get the ‘W’.
What an incredible semi-final game between two Saints, with the St. George’s Saints earning themselves a spot in the final with an opportunity to defend their title.
Final score: St. George’s 71- STA 64.
No Regrets.