Traditional roles reversed as Knights down Tigers

The Knights players will be back on the court for three two-hour practices between Christmas and New Year’s in hopes of avoiding any kind of turkey hangover.

“The kids are committed,” notes coach Mark MacKay, whose team has made many of its opponents look like turkeys by outscoring them by an average of 38 points in five league victories. “The guys are focused on showing how strong we are.”

The Knights have steamrolled to an undefeated overall record of 18-0, which includes victories in 16-team tournaments hosted by St. Patrick and St. Matthew.

The St. Matthew Tigers have also had a tremendous start to their season, but the traditional basketball powerhouses have found a nemesis in St. Peter. The Knights downed the Tigers in the finals of both local tourneys and then cruised to a 59-34 victory last week to hand St. Matthew their first loss in league play.

“I’ve taken my lumps over the years from the St. Matthew teams, so I don’t feel bad,” MacKay laughs.

MacKay identifies defence as the real strength of his team, along with players who unselfishly share the ball around on the offensive end.

“They don’t care about their stats,” MacKay says. “It’s really a team game.”

Good depth is another big reason for success, MacKay notes, adding the team’s second line doesn’t drop off much from the first and that the bench players would likely be starters for most any other school.

But it’s the powerful starting lineup led by Daniel Nwosu, along with posts Sean Decloux and Jeremy Azangi, point-guards Mike Zablocki and Brandon Farquharson that has caused the team to reevaluate the goals it set for itself at the start of the year.

“We were hoping for first,” explains MacKay, whose team finished tied for first after the regular season last year featuring many Grade 9 players. “Now we’ve set a new goal to become undefeated in Ottawa.”

The Knights plan to test themselves against some out-of-town competition in 2010 as well, including a 32-team tournament in Mississauga Jan. 7-10 when they hope the extra training over Christmas break will pay off. They’ll also catch an NBA game between the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics.

St. Matthew, meanwhile, closed out its 2009 schedule on a positive note, downing the Sir Wilfrid Laurier Lancers 70-34 to improve to 4-1 in league play. Both St. Peter and St. Matthew will move into the Tier 1 league with the preliminary schedule to divide the teams by level now complete.