Who Can Stop #1 St. Mike’s? Blue Raiders Are Steamrolling Into March!
NPH Top Performers
St.Michael’s
- Duane Notice – 32 points
- Malcolm Duvivier – 27 ponts
Notre Dame
- Grant Mullins – 37 points
FOLLOW ELIAS SBIET @Esbiet_NPH AND NPH @NorthPoleHoops
ST. CATHERINES, ON–There aren’t many teams in the country who are playing at the level that St. Michael’s is, and for that reason they have remained at the number one spot in the NPH National Rankings for the past month.
After coming back home with first place hardware from the Dairy Town Classic in New Brunswick last week, St. Mike’s has continued it’s supremacy over the high school scene by placing first at the prestigious Ontario All Catholic High School Tournament over #11-ranked Notre Dame of Burlington, 73-67.
The St. Michael’s Blue Raiders had been a part of this tournament for the past 42 years and have not won this championship since current head coach, Jeff Zownir was on the team in 1986. This one was a special one for the team as they continue on with their reputation for excellence.
Both St. Mike’s and Notre Dame started off hot from deep and were going basket for basket. People in the crowd kept staring at each other throughout the first quarter because they were so shocked to see such a high shooting percentage.
This all came at the expense of Blue Raiders Duane Notice and Malcolm Duvivier, and the Fighting Irish’s Grant Mullins.
Going into the second frame, changes needed to be made in order for St. Mike’s to pull away. Coach Zownir assessed the first quarter mentioning, “I think we were sitting back a little bit. Defensively we were tentative”.
He told his team, “Guys let’s pick it up on the defensive end, we have to continue going at them and wear them down.”
Rayshane Case was credited for the pressure that was put on the Fighting Irish’s ball handlers, making them uncomfortable and creating more difficult shots.
Meanwhile, neither Notice or Duvivier had any intention on stopping their onslaught, in fact they didn’t.
Notice had 26, Duvivier with 22 and Mullins had 20 points by halftime as the Blue Raiders took a comfortable 50-31 lead going into the second half.
Although there were a few questionable travel calls that went against Notice and Duvivier they continued to show why they are elite guards by remaining composed.
The number one guard combo in the nation plays in the present possession, a trait that speaks of their character as athletes. Top notch.
When playing against Notre Dame, you can never let your guard down because they have a tremendous shooting line consisting of Grant Mullins, Daniel Dooley, Jordan Scott and Justin Springer; who are all capable of knocking down triples. The Irish kept fighting back and brought it within nine with minutes to play, however their jabs were not able to knock out the Blue Raiders.
Notice was deservingly awarded his second consecutive tournament MVP.
As he continues to improve his perimeter shooting between now and OFSAA, there will be no angle that he won’t score from.
TOURNAMENT MVP
- Duane Notice
TOURNAMENT ALL-STARS
- Marial Shayok
- Rohan Boney
- Daniel Dooley
- Malcolm Duvivier
- Grant Mullins
