For a fourth consecutive year, Canisius has begun its by claiming the championship of the Tom Keenan Memorial Tournament. Stafford Trueheart was selected as Tournament MVP, following a 48-point two-game performance. The annual event, held the second weekend of December at Canisius High School, always top programs from NYS and the teams in this year's lineup had some especially impressive recent credentials:
Canisius - NYS Class A Federation Champs, 2015
Aquinas - NYSPHAA Class AA Finalist, 2012 & Semifinalist, 2015
Nazareth - NYS Class A Federation Champs, 2013
Albany Academy - NYS Class A Federation Finalists, 2014 & 2015
Canisius won the championship game over Aquinas, 54-49, avenging a regular season loss to the Lil Irish from last season, prior to the Federation run. After falling behind 6-2 at the start, the Crusaders used a 23-5 run to take a commanding 25-11 lead in the first half. A defensive struggle throughout, Canisius held Aquinas without a FG in the second quarter and without a point for over nine minutes of gametime.
"Early on we did a good job executing defensively what we've been talking about and working on", Canisius coach Kyle Husband said.
While the Crusaders never relinquished their lead the rest of the way, Aquinas did get back to within a point with just 1:07 left in the game, before Colby Moultrie and Stafford Trueheat sealed the win from the charity stripe.
Trueheart led the way with 25 points, 13 boards, and five blocks. Madut Ayiy scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Moultrie and Will Atkinson each added eight points.
The Crusaders earned their trip to the championship game with a lopsided rout of Nazareth on Friday afternoon. Canisius raced out to a 43-16 lead by halftime, enroute to a 65-38 win. Trueheart, who was honored prior to the game for scoring his 1,000th career point in the NYS Class A Federation semifinal win over Scotia last March, was a perfect 11/11 from the floor and led the way with 23 points through three quarters.
-centercourt
Looks like Justin Jones didn't even play in either of the two games. That's pretty scary as I think he's the second best player on this team after Trueheart and quite possibly a top 25 player in WNY.
Posted by: StateChamps2003 | Monday, December 14, 2015 at 10:16 AM