The Lasalle Lancers senior boys basketball team were more than just a little happy to return the championship banner from the Mitch Lalonde Memorial Tournament to its rightful home.
And judging by the score-lines throughout the weekend, the Lancers were plenty motivated to do so.
The fifth annual edition of the tournament in honour of the long-time Lasalle Secondary coach (Lalonde also enjoyed an illustrious run at Sudbury Secondary prior to moving over to the home of the Lancers) assembled all of the top SDSSAA teams, except Lo-Ellen (playing in Ottawa), as well as a nice crew from both Sault Ste Marie and Timmins.
In the end, it was the host team that claimed the crown thanks to a 99-77 win over the Horizon Aigles, with the quartet of Lunden Runia (19), Christian Wreegbo (17), Deran Cooper (17) and Ryder Hewlett (16) all bunched closely together in the scoring parade.
Countering for the Aigles, which trimmed the St Benedict Bears 71-70 in one of several encounters that went right down to the wire, was the tandem of Cade Kirwan and Addison Denomme with 27 points apiece.
"Our intensity throughout the tournament was really good," said Runia, his team currently sitting at 3-0 in league play and with three tough matchups on the schedule once students return from the exam break in early February.
"We really held ourselves accountable for how hard we play," added Runia, a 16 year-old grade 11 forward/guard. "We came out strong, pretty much every single game."
Playoff victories over the Lockerby Vikings (99-67) and Superior Heights Steelhawks (87-49) were a testament to the defensive intensity that coach Darcey Shallow was looking for from his team.
"We introduced a new press and were working on it quite a bit lately," said Runia. "It worked pretty well, especially against Superior Heights and Horizon."
A 6'5" multi-sport athlete, Runia is looking to diversify his game as he explores options beyond his high-school days at Lasalle. "Last year, I wasn't much of a shooter, more of a slasher," he said.
"I am making a transition this year into a three role. I can still play the four to help our team, but I also want to develop my guard skills for the future."
The "B" Flight banner would be doled out to the Theriault Flammes, slipping past the O'Gorman Knights in an all-Timmins affair while the Korah Colts (50-48 over the Espanola Spartans and the St Mary's Knights (63-57 against the ESMC Panthères) walked off with "C" and "D" bragging rights respectively.
On the junior side of the draw, the Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes continue to emphasize the point that this will be the team to watch, moving forward, as CND improved to 15-0 in league and tournament play combined thanks to an 82-37 win in the final over the St Benedict Bears.
The Alouettes rode an impressive 41-point performance from Thomas Deredin in the finals, an outing that featured no less than 10 three-point baskets for the local sharp-shooter.
Subsituting freely in earlier playoff matchups, Notre-Dame advanced to the finals after beating the Korah Colts (63-51) and Roland Michener Rebels (54-35) while St Benedict took care of business against the St Charles College Cardinals (66-46) and the Lasalle Jr Lancers (83-78).
