SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — SUMMERSIDE – The championship banner for the 26th annual Three Oaks Senior High School Christmas Classic is not leaving the host school.
The Three Oaks Team One Axemen won the senior boys’ basketball tournament for the first time since 2011 on Saturday afternoon.
“It means a lot (to win the Christmas Classic),” said Axemen senior point guard Vlersim Musliu, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player. “It’s the first time we’ve won it in a while.”
The Axemen, who recently captured the Bluefield High School tournament, defeated arch-rival Charlottetown Rural Raiders 85-63 in a championship game that was much closer than the final score would indicate.
“You can tell it’s early in the season,” said Axemen head coach Faro Halupa. “It was a little scattered at times.
“We came together in the fourth quarter when we needed to and took control of this game. Some of the other games weren’t as close, but in this game, we settled in and finished off what we had hoped to achieve.”
Rural head coach Kyle Gillis saw lots of positive for his team, especially after losing by 40 and 50 points to the Axemen in the first two meetings between the teams this year.
“In my eyes, a win for us was just doing a little better than we did the first couple of times,” said Gillis. “Progress was huge for us.
“We were better defensively, we made shots when they were open for us and we were able to rotate guys in and they were able to make a contribution.”
Intense start
The game featured a fast-paced start before a big and noisy crowd at the Three Oaks gymnasium. Rural jumped out to early 5-2 and 7-4 leads, but the Axemen answered back to take an 11-7 lead and they would not trail the rest of the way.
The Axemen, who defeated the Westisle Wolverines 92-64 in a semifinal game Saturday morning, led 15-9 after the first quarter and took a 37-23 lead into halftime. The Axemen increased their lead to 22 points, 56-34, with 3:34 to go in the third quarter, but Rural cut the lead to 56-46 heading into the final 10 minutes.
“Our game is about playing defence and running to get quick baskets,” said Halupa. “We did what we wanted to do and pushed the lead to 22 and then we just fell back asleep and stopped playing defence.
“At this level, high school basketball, things happen fast and if you don’t do what you’re supposed to do as a team things turn fast.”
Rural got as close as seven points, 58-51, with just under eight minutes remaining and it was a 10-point game, 69-59, with 3:24 to go.
“To be down 10 in the fourth quarter, that’s a huge development for us,” said Gillis. “Earlier (Saturday), beating Halifax West (60-52), a really tough metro city team in Nova Scotia in the semifinals, I think that’s what sparked us for the championship game.”
The Axemen closed out the game with a 16-4 run to post the 22-point victory.
“It was a good team win,” said Musliu. “It was really scrappy at the end but we pulled through.”
Musliu’s resumé in the final included scoring 20 points while playing strong defence.
“He’s a prime example of what we are trying to do,” said Halupa. “He comes into the game and he’s grinding on defence, he’s after his guy, he wants to get the ball and make that guy work.
“It’s because of that he’s getting steals, he’s jumping on other guys, he’s pushing the pace and he’s running all over the place. That’s what we want everyone to do and he just happened to do it best over this whole tournament.”
Spencer Rossiter (16), Justin Caron (15), Ben MacDougall (11) and Jason Stefanuca (11) were the Axemen’s other top scorers.
Nolan Ryan (24), Jose Crisostomo (14) and Steve Chapman (11) were Rural’s top point-getters.
Musliu credited strong defensive play for the Axemen’s perfect 4-0 (won-lost) record in the Christmas Classic.
“I feel it all starts on defence,” added the 17-year-old Summerside resident. “We think defence first and the offence comes with it.”
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Awards
Christmas Classic basketball tournament awards:
Most Valuable Player
Vlersim Musliu, Three Oaks.
All-Stars
Ben MacDougall, Three Oaks.
Jose Crisostomo, Charlottetown Rural.
Kalon MacDonald, Charlottetown Rural.
Chris Ramsay, Westisle.
Thomas Doherty, Halifax West.
Standings, scores
Standings after round-robin play of Christmas Classic:
Pool A
W L
Three Oaks One 2 0
Amherst 1 1
Central Kings 0 2
Pool B
Charlottetown Rural 2 0
Breton Education Centre 1 1
École Saint Anne 0 2
Pool C
Halifax West 2 0
Colonel Gray 1 1
Bluefield 0 2
Pool D
Westisle 2 0
St. Malachy’s 1 1
Three Oaks Two 0 2
Scores
Round Robin
Colonel Gray 63 Bluefield 60.
Westisle 89 Three Oaks Team Two 45.
Three Oaks Team One 100 Central Kings 67.
Charlottetown Rural 77 École Saint Anne 72.
Halifax West 89 Colonel Gray 59.
Westisle 89 St. Malachy’s 86.
Amherst 83 Central Kings 81.
St. Malachy’s 61 Three Oaks Team Two 42.
École Saint Anne 92 Breton Education Centre 86.
Three Oaks Team One 93 Amherst 55.
Halifax West 75 Bluefield 43.
Charlottetown Rural 68 Breton Education Centre 52.
Cross-over Games
Central Kings 93 Three Oaks Team Two 43
École Saint Anne 64 Colonel Gray 62
Amherst 68 St. Malachy’s 52
Semifinals
Three Oaks Team One 92 Westisle 64.
Charlottetown Rural 60 Halifax West 52
Championship Game
Three Oaks Team One 85 Charlottetown Rural 63