No quarter was awarded the Montreal Basketball League (MBL) Midget AA Championship as the Côte Saint-Luc Warriors held off a very determined LaSalle Leaders team to take a 63-60 decision . “They’re the only team we’ve lost to this season,” LaSalle head coach Kelvin Phillips said. “I knew it was going to be difficult. It was the best match we played all season, I’m very proud of them. In the eight years I have coached, this has been the best season.
It was a one-point game with four seconds left, but a foul sent warrior Adam Miller to the line where he hit both free throws to give him 20 points on the day. “It was the toughest game we’ve had all year,” Warriors head coach Kevin Fuks said. “LaSalle came out strong defensively, a lot of respect to the LaSalle leaders. We are really happy and we will celebrate the victory
The Warriors started with a 21-19 lead in the first quarter, but LaSalle upped their game in the second. When the buzzer sounded to bring the game to halftime, the Leaders were leading with a cushion of seven points. LaSalle held CSL to 13 points in the second period as they added 22 to take the lead.
During the break, Coach Fuks got the team back on track when play returned in the third quarter, including aggressive and stifling defensive play. “Overall it was our intensity,” said coach Fuks. “We played more than a full game in the second half.” This had the effect of holding LaSalle’s score as the Warriors were good for 20 points to climb back to the top. Although the Leaders were held to nine points in this quarter, they were only four points behind CSL as play headed into the final 10 minutes of regulation time. LaSalle continued to respond to the Warriors but couldn’t get that bucket as time went on.
Gabriel Bodokh of Côte Saint-Luc led the way for the Warriors with a game of 32 points, including a dozen from the free throw line. Bodokh was also selected as player of the year. LaSalle’s Medrick Gagnon had a hot hand for the Leaders as he led the way with a 20-point performance. Warrior Casey Pascal had a trio of treys and led the charge in the fourth with eight points for an overall game 19p