A slow first-quarter start surely cost the St. Thomas More Knights a shot at the AAA Lower Mainland high school boys’ basketball title.
The Sir Charles Tupper Tigers rode a 20-9 opening quarter against the Knights all the way to 86-78 victory in the gold-medal final at the 3A Mainland championships at the Richmond Olympic Oval on Friday.
STM chipped away at the lead, outscoring the Vancouver 3A champion Tigers in both the second and third quarters, but the cool hand of Tupper guard Ron Ronquillo, nailing eight of his 10 straight free throws in the final minutes of the fourth quarter kept the charging Knights at bay.
“We just wanted to win,” said Ronquillo, who led the Tigers with 32 points, including 12-for-13 foul shots and three second-half three-pointers. “It’s the first time we’ve ever got here.”
The win by Tupper avenged an earlier loss to STM in the semifinals at the Chancellor tournament back in January.
Now the shoe could be on the other foot if the two teams meet up again at the provincials, said STM’s 6-3 forward Reese Morris.
“We’ll just remember how it felt in the dressing room after the game and come out strong against their team,” said Morris, who led the Knights with 34 points, including 30 in a turnaround second half.
Trailing by 11 points heading into the second quarter, junior Knights guard Terrell Jana kept the deficit within reach, putting up 13 of his 15 first-quarter points in the second frame. Jana finished the game with 22 points.
STM appeared to do its homework between halves, establishing its presence at the low post, while allowing Morris to score almost at will, tallying 17 in the third quarter and another 13 in the fourth.
Kieran Janes got the deficit to within a single point with a three-point play with 3:35 left in the third quarter.
But Tupper’s Saurav Acharya, who scored three of his team-high four three-pointers in the third quarter, answered right back.
In the fourth quarter, it was Ronquillo’s turn to thwart the Knights attempted comeback.
The 5-7 point guard, playing with four fouls, opened the fourth quarter with two of the team’s nine treys and then was a cool 10-for-10 from the charity stripe to ensure the East Van school the win.
“They wanted it more,” said Morris. “When we beat them at the Chancellor, they had that anger.
“We know we have a berth, but we still know we can make it.”
McNair, which eliminated Byrne Creek 86-68 in the consolation semifinal on Thursday, earned the No. 3 Mainland seed into the provincials with an 84-79 victory over McNair in an all-Richmond matchup on Friday. All four teams earned a berth into the upcoming B.C. championships in Langley on March 12 to 15.
