Rams alone a top of District

   St. Joe's drops Mother Teresa, 49-39, in the battle of the 6-0 senior teams

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

By Rob J. Ross 

ST. THOMAS - The St. Joseph's Rams are alone on top of the mountain.

An offensive push late in the third quarter put the Rams up 15 points, before settling for a 49-39 win over the London Mother Teresa Spartans, in London and District senior boys' basketball, at St. Joseph's high school.

The Rams now have sole possession of first place at 7-0, handing the Spartans (6-1) their first loss. All other teams (including London Catholic Central, Regina Mundi and John Paul II) in the hunt for top spot, have at least two losses.

"Our defence. Our kids played really good defence," Rams' coach Richard Mommersteeg said. "We had to put in a full effort or else you're going to get beat. I have full respect for Mother Teresa. They have a fantastic team. They have one of the best players (Aaron Tennant) in the league."

Mother Teresa has already won the Purple and White and Paul Furfaro tournaments this season.

"They (Spartans) run very, very well and are bigger than us. So we have to run faster then them."

Tennant scored a game high 15 points, but only two points in the second half.

Mother Teresa led 7-5 after one quarter and 22-20 at recess. But mid third quarter, the Rams were up 29-22 and thanks to a couple of momentum driving shots the Rams quickly stretched their advantage to 15 points.

"When Redmond Cunanan hit a three and Taye Donald hit a couple of jump shots and with us playing good defence, it created momentum. We're a team that likes up tempo. If we're able to play a lot of up tempo basketball we're able to create a lot of easy scores," said Mommersteeg. "Our concern was the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. If we could sustain our lead, the more the clock becomes their enemy. They kind of got on a run, but we found ways to play good defence."

The Rams drive continued in to the fourth quarter, up 45-30 with five minutes remaining.

Taye and Myikal Donald, each had 11 points to lead the Rams, who had a balanced attack. Alex Craig added nine points, while Cunanan, chipped in with seven.

"It sets us up for Thursday (at John Paul II). If we win Thursday we have a good chance of finishing first. If we don't win, then it's going to be a dog fight. We still have CCH and (Woodstock) St. Mary's. We lost to CCH at a tournament. They have size way over us."

Action outside of their league has strengthened the Rams, as well as their continued intensity during practice.

"Every tournament that we've been in, have all been very, very competitive. We've played about 20 games and we've only had four soft games. Playing good teams identifies to the kids good habits at practice creates good habits in games. We stress we want them to practice with positive energy and good habits."

        Twitter.com/hometownplayca