2005 HSBC Final

St. Georges Saints (-3) vs Handsworth Royals (+3) O/U 125
Saturday - Dec. 10 @ 7:00 pm
UBC War Memorial Gym

Final score 57-55 for St. Georges in OT. The game was led most of the way by the Saints, but they couldn't close out the Royals late in the 4th quarter. The Royals actually had a chance to take the lead with 30sec left but Sacre missed the "And One" gimme. In the end, Murphy and Kong closed out the Royals with consecutive baskets to win the HSBC Tournament spoiling an all Handsworth win (The Royals Girls won earlier in the day).

For the Saints, Kong and Murphy led the Saints in all aspects as they should. Offensively, both played extremely well considering the tough defense of the Royals by Keast and Leigh. On defense, McKay did a solid job on Sacre, didn't shut him down but slowed him just enough.

For the Royals, Sacre was dominate scoring half of the Royals points. Keast and Leigh did not have good games offensively but their defense on Kong and Murphy was the best we've seen so far. Allinger had a solid game as well playing off of Sacre.


St. Georges Saints
Taking the week off last week proved to be a good move as the Saints looked a lot fresher than their semifinal opponent Centennial Centaurs who played their 7th game in 8 games and had their winning streak snapped. They key to a Saints win has always been Bol and Alex, and so far they are the best 1-2 tandem in the whole province. Bol is showing very little ill-effects from his stress fracture he suffered in the summer and has plenty of hops early on. I've been most impressed with Murphy's game, he's really picked up his intensity and playing with more of a chip on his shoulder. The supporting cast has been most impressive as well led by Chris McKay. McKay is going to have to be sharp on Sat to keep Sacre in check, a tough challenge to say the least.


Handsworth Royals
Huge win last night against Kitsilano avenging their 3 point loss to the Blue Demons at last weekends NSIT tournament. The Royals have been inconsistent in their play so far. When they play well, they are easily the top team in the province. When Sacre gets into foul trouble, they struggle to find a rhythm without him in the middle. The Royals will need their speedy guards (Keast and Leigh) to step up and make plays to stretch the defense and allow Sacre to dominate in the middle. On defense, the Royals will need to find a way to stop Bol on the perimeter, the Royal's don't have a guard big enough to stop Bol one-on-one.


How they got here:

St. George's 71
Centennial 49

St. George's 69
Churchill 53

Port Moody 60
St. George's 80

West Point Grey 29
St. George's 81


Kitsilano 59
Handsworth 73

Handsworth 67
Gleneagle 61

Handsworth 88
Tamanawis 56

Southridge 53
Handsworth 87