Semiahmoo break Holy Cross to advance to Final Four
In the first Quarter Final of the day, the Holy Cross Crusaders took on the Semiahmoo Totems.
The first quarter proved to be a back-and-forth game, with both teams finding the basket early on. Despite the clear height difference, Cross brought their high velocity defense to Semi, consistently blocking their layups and picking up in the full court.
The Crusaders showed off their speed and had the Totems running laps near the end of the quarter. Holy Cross banged in another 3, taking the lead 20-16. But Semiahmoo hit back with another six points, including a critical 3.
Just as the buzzer sounded at the end of the first, the Crusaders hit a glorious 3.
In the second quarter, Holy Cross continued to work their opponent hard on the floor. The Crusaders moved the ball well and gave nearly all of their players a chance to score. But the Totems were not ready to back down from this battle. They brought the score to within just one point and eventually took the lead at the 4-minute mark.
The Crusaders seemed to lose their edge and were being blocked out by the tall Totems in their own zone. Unable to get a basket on multiple possessions, Holy Cross fell to a 12-point deficit.
Semi led 48-36 at the half.
Cross started the second half off unable to hit any buckets, and missing a few key layups. Despite the Crusaders bold effort, the Totems dominated in rebounds and shots. Foul trouble tripped up Cross, giving Semi a staggering lead for the duration of the third.
The Totems were able to hold their own, despite turning over the ball on multiple possessions in the second half. Holy Cross was struggling to convert on the turnovers, and when the Totems did break the press, Adam Paige was too much to handle on second chance points. By the end of the third, the score was 64-49 in favour of Semi.
In the fourth and final quarter, the Holy Cross continued to bring the energy with some fancy spins and a beauty steal from both Uyi Ologhola and Gabriel Takeawoa to come within 11 points.
Both teams incurred a fourth foul call on Cross’ Ologhola and Semi’s Jordan Chen, adding to the tension already steaming off the court.
With only five minutes to go, the Totems were up 71-57.
The Crusaders got into some nasty foul trouble, sending Michael Risi off after his fifth. Holy Cross trailed by nearly 20 points, but did not quit. They grabbed two boards to come within just 15.
Sadly for the Holy Cross Crusaders, they could not light the fire within that we’ve seen in past games. The Semiahmoo Totems were victorious with an amazing 83-64.
Adam Paige was named player of the game with an incredible 30 points and 25 boards. He says he tried as hard as possible to grab every single board and it totally paid off.
“We played them earlier in the year and knew it would be a tough match, so we knew they were either going to cause a lot of turnovers and getting layups. We knew if we played calm, we’d be good,” Paige said.
"They went on a couple runs, but I think overall we just made sure we’d get past the half court and just settle them down.”
Head on over to our Instagram account for the game highlights!
Written by: Crystal Scuor
