Raiders advance to consolation final
Lucas Muon is more about substance than style.
The 17-year-old, Grade 12 student doesn’t possess a classic jump shot, but when push comes to shove, the speedy guard gets the job done.
Muon poured in 17 points as the Holy Cross Raiders held off the West Niagara Wolf Pack 43-40 in a consolation round semifinal game at the 59th Annual Standard Kully’s Boys High School Basketball Tournament Thursday at Ridley College.
The Raiders now take on the Thorold Golden Eagles Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the St. Catharines Collegiate for the consolation championship.
“Honestly, I just shoot like that. I don’t know where it came from,” Muon smiled.
Holy Cross coach Randy Conlon compared Muon to former Standard most valuable player Doug Fast.
“He means everything to us,” Conlon said. “He can just flat out score. It’s not conventional. It’s kind of awkward. It’s kind of like a Dougie Fast shot but it goes in. He has a nose for the basket.
“He’s a quiet kid, unassuming and humble and he just loves to play.”
Muon, who had 20 points Tuesday as the Raiders defeated the St. Catharines Collegiate Saints, netted all his points in the first three quarters.
“They adjusted and wouldn’t let Lucas get the ball but he hurt them in the first half,” Conlon said.
With the Wolfpack paying more attention to Muon in the final eight minutes, Dwyane Osbourne rose to the occasion and netted seven of his 17 points in the final quarter.
“It’s a team effort but, man, Dwayne Osbourne,” Conlon said.
The Raiders will be making their first appearance in a final since winning the championship under coach Mike Sheahan.
“It’s been since 1993 since Holy Cross has played on Friday night,” Conlon said. “I’m happy for the kids and the school.
“I love this group. They listen and they’re coachable as heck. I’m thrilled.”
Muon, too, was all smiles afterward.
“It was pretty much both (fun and nerve wracking),” he said. “It was cool and now we get to go to the consolation.
“We thought we had a good chance. We lost our first game against Ridley and that got us down a little but but then we brought it back up.”
Conlon didn’t know what to expect from the Wolfpack.
“I was told — I’m not going to name names — but I was told West Niagara, once they lost their opening round game they were probably going to win the consolation,” he said. “I’d never seen them play so I didn’t know a ton but I got a scouting report from the other coaches. I thought if we could defend and rebound, we would have a chance and we did both of those things, very, very well.”
Conlon is looking forward to battling the Golden Eagles.
“I know (coach) Mark (Dupont) real well. He’s done a real nice job there. I’ve played on Friday night, but I’ve never coached on Friday night. It’s cool.”
West Niagara coach Steve Huisman admitted he was disappointed with the outcome.
“The boys put in a lot of hard work to get to this point,” Huisman said. “I think we underestimated Holy Cross. I played for Randy (at Niagara College) so I should know his tricks. I still have a lot of learning to do off of that guy.”
The Wolfpack were missing star centre Zander Culic, out with a knee injury.
“That was a big hole to fill,” Huisman said. “It’s hard to fill. He’s 6-foot-7 and a heavy dunker.”
STATS PACK
Raiders 43 Wolfpack 40
The Kully’s/Regatta Sports Players of the Game were Dwayne Osbourne for Holy Cross and Nate Skeldon for West Niagara.
Scoring for the Raiders were: Lucas Muon 17, Dwayne Osbourne 17, Owen Bradford-Andrew 4, Greg Wenglowski 2, Arin Sayegh 1.
Scoring for the Wolfpack were Nate Skeldon 17, Shiv Ramdial 11, Aiden Dawe 3, Clayton Maurice 2, Riley Zalauf 2, Tyler Foster 2, Hayden Khan 2.
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