HAMILTON-WENTWORTH CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
Gaels cap undefeated season with championship win

By Larry Moko

An inspired effort by St. Thomas More almost carried the upset-minded Knights to victory in the 2022 Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic senior boys' high school basketball championship game.

In the end, however, the first-place Cathedral Gaels prevailed 72-71 on their home court in front of a frenzied crowd to complete an undefeated season.

"We were just fortunate to win, there's no other way to put it," Gaels coach Dwayne Harvey said moments after the exciting finish. "We blew a big lead but we were able to stay composed.

"More is a tough team. They're well coached. I'm not going to say we shot the ball as good as we could have, but we hit shots when it counted and we got stops when it counted."

When Kim Tamayo -- he ended up with 20 points -- connected on a three-point attempt early in the fourth quarter, it gave the Gaels a 13-point advantage. But sparked mainly by the offense down the stretch of Sam Kong, Bilal Bilal and Kyle Castillo, the Knights battled back to grab a 65-64 lead.

"The last 30 seconds could have gone either way," Harvey said.

With 12.1 seconds left and the score 71-68 for Cathedral, More misfired on a three-point try. Jordan Truelove of the Gaels got the rebound, was fouled and made one of two free-throws. Castillo then banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer to cap the scoring.

"The first time they beat us by 19 (74-55)," said Kong, who tossed in 19 points in the final. "It's my last year so I wanted to leave it all on the court.

"They're a good team undefeated all season. This was a hard-fought game."

Bilal and Castillo each netted 15 points for the visitors.

Truelove paced all scorers with 21 points. Devin Quammie contributed 12 for the Gaels, Jacob Flynn chipped in with 10 and Jojo Moudiandambu added nine points.

"It was an entertaining game and I'm sure the fans enjoyed it," More coach Stefano Giovannangeli said. "We thought we were prepared. We had a good game plan, the guys bought in and we executed for the most part. We gave them a better run than the first time we played them. Take absolutely nothing away from that team. Cathedral is phenomenal. They have all the pieces and they play with heart."

Giovannangeli congratulated former Gaels player Harvey after the game and commented: "How many years ago was it we were coaching against Dwayne and we got the last laugh. Tonight, he got the last laugh."

Second-place More was 8-1 during the regular schedule and advanced with playoff wins over St. Mary (94-49) and St. John Henry Newman (76-45). Cathedral qualified with quarter-final and semifinal decisions over ACMT (71-44) and Brebeuf (80-62).

Defensively, the Gaels were once again led in steals and forced turnovers by the veteran Moudiandambu and first-year player from the Philippines, Tamayo.

"Jojo has been our floor general on defence," Harvey said. "When he gets in his stance, nobody can get by him. And he wants to take on the biggest challenge.

"Kim is a special player. Anyone who walks in the gym notices how good he is. I tell him to focus on the defensive end because I know the offensive end is a lock for him."

Other Cathedral players included Kevin Dang, Jackson Daly, Aidan Gago, John Padolina, Kibrom Kefte, Marcel McKenzie, Nathan Daly and Momin Loffelman.

"I'm happy for this team," Tamayo said. "We've been working since Day 1."

Cathedral also took the junior championship, rallying from a 16-point deficit to defeat the Knights, 60-52, at More's gym. Both teams had regular-season records of 8-1.

In the novice final, the second-place Bishop Ryan Celtics took top honours with a 62-51 victory over first-place Cathedral.