The B.C. Catholic high school basketball tournament has been played for a quarter of a century.
Archbishop Carney Stars paid tribute by playing four brilliant quarters in Saturday's final to capture top spot in the 25th annual senior boys event, hosted by Surrey's Holy Cross Crusaders.
Fresh of a title win at their own Carney Classic tourney the previous week, the Stars bounced Burnaby's St. Thomas More Knights -- ranked No. 1 among B.C. AA squads going in -- 59-51 in the championship affair.
"The boys played their best game of the season," raved Stars head coach Steve McGinley. "[We took] care of the ball... minimizing the turnovers, rebounding and pressuring the ball. Ultimately, our top players were our best players and [we] out-played STM."
Grade 11's Patrick Simon paced the Stars in the final with 19 points and 12 rebounds. William Baumann was next netting 17 points, with Christian Legazpi collecting another 11 for the victors.
In the semifinals, Legazpi was named game MVP as the Stars overcame a late surge by the St. Ann's Crusaders of Kamloops to escape with a tough 52-49 triumph.
St. Ann's overcame a 12-point deficit to narrow the gap to just two late in the fourth quarter.
But the Stars maintained their composure and pulled out the win.
In their opening game, the Stars got a stellar 23 points and 12 boards from game MVP Simon on way to a convincing 64-43 victory over Vancouver's St. Patrick's Celtics.
"Patrick has really shown he's going to be one or our top players this year and even more dominant next year as a senior," McGinley said.
The result dropped STM to No. 3 in the province as of Tuesday's most recent B.C. high school boys rankings, while the Stars jumped from honourable mention to the No. 8 seed.
In the Catholic senior girls final, No. 6 Carney was tripped 45-32 by No. 3 Holy Cross. The Stars shaved Kelowna's Immaculata Mustangs 39-38 in the semis after opening with a huge 70-12 win over St. Ann's.
