Algoma Basketball Classic (ABC) Tournament Summary (Oct 24-25, 2014)
The Lakehead Selects travelled to Sault Ste Marie over the weekend to compete at the Algoma Basketball Classic Tournament. This event featured the host Algoma Thunderbirds, Sault College Cougars, the Sault All-Stars, and the Lakehead Selects.
The Lakehead Selects finished the weekend 2-1 to claim their ‘unofficial’ second straight ABC Championship. The final rankings would be skewed, due to a power outage that forced the game between the Thunderbirds and All-Stars to be called in the 3rd quarter. With that in mind, the Selects were the only team to play 3 complete games on the weekend. Having won 2, where no other team could match their number of wins, the Selects were self-acclaimed as the ‘unofficial’ tournament champions.
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| (L-R, Yoosrie Salhia, Greg Carter, Andew Hackner, Jamie Searle (seated), Franco Veneruzzo, Hugh Mullally (rear), Matthew Schmidt, Paul Popo-Ola, Zach White) |
Roster: Yoosrie Salhia, Jamie Searle, Greg Carter, Andrew Hackner, Matthew Schmidt, Paul Popo-Ola, Zach White and Hugh Mullally. All are proud Lakehead Basketball alumni.
Coach: Franco Veneruzzo
Manager: Nathan Wainwright
Manager: Nathan Wainwright
Game 1 - Lakehead Selects 70; Algoma Thunderbirds 80
(Friday @ 8:00pm)
The first game of the 2014 tournament was a rematch of the ‘13 championship double-overtime finale, the Selects having come out victorious 12 months earlier. The Thunderbirds would earn the 80-70 victory with great team play and 28 fourth-quarter points.
The fourth quarter break down would be the deciding factor, as Lakehead was visibly rusty, and a 7-man roster in game 1 left the team visibly exhausted, despite holding a 60-52 lead after 30 minutes of play.
Lakehead started strong out of the gate, matching the ‘Birds intensity, who pressed full court the majority of the game. Reserve forward Zach White (Engineering Alum, ‘12) provided a spark off the bench, scoring 8 points in the first quarter of play. He finished with 11 points on the game.
The Selects’ leading scorer was Yoosrie Salhia (Education, ‘13) who scored 22 points with 12 rebounds. The Thunderbirds would stifle Salhia’s efforts in the fourth quarter with double and triple-team defense on the 6’6” centre.
Greg Carter (Business, ‘13) had 11 points with 7 assists and 5 steals. Jamie Searle (Education, ‘12) scored 14 points with 3 assists and 3 steals.
Game 2: Lakehead Selects 65; Sault College Cougars 60
(Saturday @ 1:30pm)
After a power-outage delay that caused the game before theirs to be called in the third quarter, the Lakehead Selects came out of the dark and into the light with 65-60 win over the Sault College Cougars.
Leading the Selects once again was Yoosrie Salhia, this time scoring 17 points with 14 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
Matthew Schmidt (Kinesiology, ‘13) got going with 15 points and 5 rebounds, which included 3 drained shots from beyond the arc. Jamie Searle dropped 13 points with 3 steals and 3 assists.
Hugh Mullally (MBA, ‘08) joined the roster for Saturday’s games to play a few minutes and bring some relief to the Selects’ frontcourt. He scored 1 point and fouled out in 12 minutes of play.
Game 3: Lakehead Selects 75; Sault All-Stars 66
(Saturday @ 7:00pm)
The final game of the tournament was a competition between teams of CIS and CCAA veterans, the former making up the Selects roster, and the All-Stars’ roster a blend of the latter, plus McGill (‘98-’03) star forward Kirk Reid.
The Selects managed to hold on for a 75-66 win, thanks to some great guard play, including that of Paul Popo-Ola (Business, ‘12) who scored 10 points and made 5 assists with 3 steals.
Both of the aged teams looked tired, the two of them having played games earlier in the day. Even the officials seemed a little sleepy at the switch, with play on the floor going largely unchecked for the majority of the game, which didn’t seem to bother either team.
The Selects’ Matt Schmidt scored 18 points to lead his team, while Zach White and Jamie Searle scored 11 apiece. Power forward and Dease Park native Andrew Hackner (Geology, ‘12) scored a 10 point, 10 rebound double-double to push the Selects past the All-Stars.
