With a whole slew of travelling out of the way, the Lasalle Lancers boys basketball teams can now turn their attention to their own tournament and a chance to stay at home - once the holidays are done.
It's been a busy four week run for both the junior and senior teams, beginning with the Shoot the Rock tournament hosted by Laurentian University then on to the Barrie Showdown for the senior boys at the end of November.
Early December would see the junior lads make their way to the Mitchell / Stratford region as the team posted a 2-1 record while competing at the Mitchell Bowl.
Losing point guard Seamus Murphy to injury just three minutes into their opening encounter, the junior Lancers struggled to get recalibrated, dropping a 57-35 decision to the College Avenue Secondary School Knights from Woodstock.
Anxious to make amends, Lasalle bounced the Walkderton DCS Winterhawks 75-50 as Devin Wreegbo (17 pts), Josh Sellen (12) and Zayden Contois (12) helped lift the SDSSAA teens to victory.
The team rounded out the event with a 67-38 win over the Brantford Collegiate Institute Lions as Josh Sellen again reached double digits, sinking 17 points to top the scoring charts for the Lancers.
Rounding out the roster for the team which kicks off regular season play in Sudbury with a matchup against the St Charles College Cardinals on Tuesday are Kane Flood, William MacLeod, Fred Becker, Jake Crawford, Wally Sherman, Cael Manella, Al Amin Adeoti, head coach Kyle Preseau and assistant coach Darcey Shallow.
Those latter two simple flip the order for the senior version of the Lancers, a team which captured the St Mary's Knights Winter Classic in Sault Ste Marie this past weekend, stopping the host team 51-32 in the final.
The one-two punch of Dash Kamal (12) and Christian Wreegbo (10) did much of the damage, though no less than nine different players hit the scoresheet for the Orange & Black.
Their playoff run to the championship encounter included a 76-31 beatdown of the Korah Colts as Wreegbo (18) and Kamal (10) welcomed Lunden Campbell-Runia to the double-digit club with his ten point effort, Jude St-Michael Leblanc one point off that mark with nine.
Deran Cooper exploded to the tune of 23 points in the semi-finals as the Lancers eliminated the Superior Heights Steelhawks 54-34, with Wreegbo (13) and Campbell-Runia (10) also chipping in when needed.
A total of 16 senior teams and 18 senior teams have regsitered for the annual Mitch Lalonde Memorial Tournament taking place on January 9th and 10th (2026), with the senior Lancers opening their new year against the St Charles senior boys, with Thériault and O'Gorman both in town from Timmins.
The balance of the Lasalle senior roster is, as follows: Alazar Stevens, Rashaun Asare-Corbiere, Ryder Hewlett, Dylan Bates, Logan Akkanen, Owen O'Leary and Nicho Simmons.
