WATERLOO REGION (February 16, 2018) – On Thursday night in a packed St. Mary’s gymnasium, the District 8 senior basketball title was up for grabs.

With neither contenders, St. Mary’s nor St. Benedict’s having great semi-final games earlier in the week, the biggest question on the night was who was going to bring their ‘A’ game on championship night.

The first half belonged to St. Mary’s who was slightly favoured heading into the game, led by shooting guard Michael Caraci who shot the ball well hitting three shots from deep, tallying 11 points in the first half. Jody Brown Jr. added nine points in the frame to give the Eagles a nine point lead at the half.

Saints’ guard Rafael Liorin stormed out in the third quarter scoring seven points, but Eagles’ Ethan Passley answered with 10 points in the quarter as he helped extend the lead to 12.

The fourth quarter saw St. Benedict’s close the gap down to five points a couple times with a well balanced team attack but the St. Mary’s shooting was too good on night. Brown Jr. hit two clutch threes late in the fourth quarter to close out the game 64-55.

Brown Jr. led all scoring with 19 while Ethan Passley finished with 17.

St. Benedict’s Jake Polski was a perfect six-for-six from the free throw line finishing with 16 points while Liorin had 12.

St. Mary’s will have a week off to prepare for the AAA CWOSSA Championships held February 23-24 in Cambridge. St. David’s will represent District 8 at the AA CWOSSA tournament while Rockway will play in the A CWOSSA tournament.

The junior Eagles squad carried an undefeated season into their game against Resurrection on Thursday night, as they looked to capture their eighth straight District 8 title.

With the Phoenix leading scorer on the season out for this game, it was Aiden Claire who stepped up to score 27 points in the game and push the Eagles into overtime.

In the fourth quarter and overtime, it was the Eagles’ Aaron Brush and James Wani who stepped their game up to combine to score 21 of their teams’ 30 points.

The overtime frame proved to be too much for the Phoenix as they fell 73-61 to the Eagles.

Brush lead the Eagles with 18 points while Neron Angelo and Tereek James each had 12.

The Eagles will advance to the AAA CWOSSA championships next week while St. David’s and Woodland will play in their respective AA and A CWOSSA events.

Earlier in the day, Resurrection would claim the midget basketball championship in a 48-31 win over St. Benedict. Vivayk Patel led the Eagles with 14 points while teammate Brandon Anthony scored 13. Resurrection’s Josiah Stairs scored eight.