St. Mike’s, #NPH #2-Ranked Canadian High School Earn Mother Teresa Gold, Ready for #1 Spot
NPH TOP PERFORMERS
ST. MIKES
- Malcolm Duvivier– 21 points (MVP)
- Sage Usher- 16 points (4 threes)
- Duane Notice– 14 points
EASTERN COMMERCE
- James Sylvester– 16 points
SCARBOROUGH, ON–If you went down the list of teams at the Mother Teresa Invitational, you could have mistaken this tournament for OFSAA as the playing field was loaded with the province’s top programs.
Entering this game, Eastern Commerce was favoured due to matchups, despite St Mike’s being the NPH #2-ranked team in the country.
However, the Blue Raiders rose to the occasion playing arguably the best game of the season to win it over the talented Eastern team.
As usual, it was a total team effort from St. Mike’s as Coach Jeff Zownir had his unit moving the ball well, and breaking defensive pressure thanks to the brilliance of Duane Notice and Malcolm Duvivier.
This deadly combo proved that when matching up against a team with guards that can handle pressure, the full court press becomes an after thought.
Malcolm Duvivier was efficient all tournament and earned MVP honours, posting a game-high 21 points om the victory.
Sage Usher also came up big for St. Mike’s, connecting on four shots from long range, chipping in with 16 points.
The leading senior Duane Notice added 14, and chats with NPH on what it took to win this championship.
“Commitment. We all committed to staying positive…we fueled the off-court issues with Eastern and converted it to hunger,” Notice explained.
“We boxed out and played our hearts out as a team.”
For the Saints, it was James Sylvester who posted a team-high 16 points. However, the story for the Saints this tournament was the coming out party of the young guns Gavin Pearce and Jamal Thomas.
Pearce highlighted the tournament with a shake and bake move to break down his defender and penetrated for the two-hand monster jam. Pearce is a player to look out for in the coming years, as his confidence was at an all-time high.
Thomas was also rock solid for Eastern Commerce, shooting the three ball with efficiency and earning himself a tournament all-star selection!
Yet, despite the depth of Eastern Commerce, St. Mikes was simply the better team in the championship and proved it on their way to gold.
Tournament All-Stars
- Henry Tan (Vaughan)
- Josh Bell (Father Henry Carr)
- Duane Notice (St. Michael’s)
- Gavin Pearce (Eastern Commerce)
- James Sylvester (Eastern Commerce)
Defensive Player of the Tournament – Mohamed Camara (Eastern Commerce)
Tournament MVP- Malcolm Duvivier (St. Mikes)
