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The St James Trojans 8th grade boy’s basketball team captured the 2010 Diocese of Belleville Parochial ‘A’ Division Championship by defeating the St Joseph of Olney Wildcats 53-23 on Sunday afternoon at Gibault High School in Waterloo. The championship victory completed a trio of decisive wins for the Trojans over the weekend.
The title game in the tournament pitted the #1 seeded Trojans against the #2 seeded Wildcats. Since the Wildcats hailed from Olney, Illinois little was known about them. The Wildcats won the tip and came out firing hitting a three-pointer to start the contest. For a moment it seemed that it could be a balanced contest. But the Trojans killed any notion of a close game in the first quarter as they went on a 17-0 run and were leading 17-3 at the end of the quarter. The Trojans never looked back after that. Trojans Coach Shaun Johnston said, “Our defense was unbelievable today, our trapping and pressure just didn’t let them breathe at all. We knew they could shoot threes but they didn’t really have an inside presence so we focused on pressure and covering the perimeter.”
The Trojans dominated the Wildcats in almost every facet of the game. The Trojans defense sparked their offense. The Wildcats were not prepared for the pressure defense of the Trojans. The Trojans capitalized on Wildcat mistakes, forcing errors and scoring in transition. The Trojans went to a half court zone press midway in the second quarter but it was still as effective. The Wildcats could not work the ball inside and were not get getting good looks from the outside. The Trojans half court offense proved difficult for the Wildcats as well. The Trojans scored inside and outside and no matter what the Wildcats did to counter it wasn’t enough as the Trojans marched out to a 26-8 halftime lead. Coach Johnston said, “I really was surprised with the outcome of the game. I don’t think they’re as bad as they played today. We overmatched them early and I think they got down on themselves and didn’t recover.”
The third and fourth quarters were more of the same as the Wildcats could not match up with the Trojans. The Trojans continued to stymie the Wildcats offense while they found all of the holes in the Wildcats defense. After three quarters the Trojans led 43-17. The Trojans worked in a number of substitutes throughout the fourth quarter, all the while maintaining their lead. While the hustle and determined effort of the Wildcats was admirable it was not enough as the Trojans took the game and the championship.
The Trojans were led by Kyle Sweeney who may have had his best game of the season scoring 29 points. He was followed by Sam Haudrich with 10 points, nine of them on three three-pointers. The scoring was rounded out by several other Trojan players. While points get headlines, defense and rebounding win championships. Trojan players Kole Rakers, Zach Skaer, Jordan McFarland and Richie Donald were instrumental in helping their team to the win and the championship exhibiting great hustle, strong defense and overall court savvy. Coach Johnston said, “If Sam (Haudrich) is scoring we can win. His outside shot sets up everything else for us. Teams can’t sit on Kyle (Sweeney) inside if he’s hitting outside.”
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