Okotoks high school basketball showed it could more than hang with the top teams in the province on the weekend.
With five of the top 10 ranked squads at the 4A level competing at Holy Trinity Academy’s Knights Classic, the Knights and Foothills Falcons battled to silver and bronze medal performances with the top-ranked St. Mary’s Saints reigning supreme at the 28th annual senior boys basketball showcase.
“They’re number-one in the province for a reason,” said Knights coach Sam Aiello. “They took it to us in that first half and we were playing catch up the whole time, but I thought we stayed resilient and in the second half we stayed positive and worked as hard as we could just to make it a competitive game.
“It was a good experience for our guys to see that level and see where we can aspire to.”
The Saints, the undefeated defending provincial champions, took the final by a 76-60 score with the Knights rallying from a 50-22 deficit at the half.
Saints star Jacob McLellan, a Mount Royal University commit, was named the tournament MVP.
“He’s a special player, in that first quarter he had 15 of their 21,” Aiello said. “He’s a tough guy to guard and he just set the tone for them.
“They’re just a disciplined team, they play good defence, they’ve got good size. We did what we could, played real hard and didn’t give up.”
St. Mary’s got past the Falcons 73-71 in the semifinal in what was the game of the tournament.
Foothills rallied back from double digit deficits in the second half with clutch shooting down the stretch, highlighted by Drew Byam’s step back corner three pointer to tie the game at 71-71 with 15 seconds left.
The Saints would then score off on an offensive rebound tip to secure the result.
In the bronze medal game, the Falcons chased the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs by a 70-56 score to add another tournament medal to their growing haul this season.
Foothills, the No. 6 ranked team, opened its tournament with a decisive win over the No. 4 ranked L.C.I. Rams by a 91-69 score.
HTA, ranked No. 10 in Alberta, kicked off the Classic with a dominant showing versus Calgary’s Lester B. Pearson and overpowered the Bulldogs 93-52 in the other semifinal.
“Our level has risen to that point where we can attract top teams to our school to play here,” Aiello said. “And I think it will just grow from here as long as we stay competitive, I think teams will want to come here.
“It’s a great facility to play in and it’s my 28th year and I think we run a pretty good tournament.”
HTA’s Noah Barlow was the team’s tournament all-star.
“He was solid all weekend, he did his thing,” the coach added. “He worked hard, made some big shots, he’s a great rebounder for us and a really positive team guy.”
