THUNDER BAY – Jared Kreiner’s got a few things left to accomplish before he decides where he’s playing basketball next season.
For the St. Ignatius star on Saturday, the only goal was helping deliver a Falcons Invitational championship against their cross-city rival Hammarskjold Vikings.
After a slow start, they got the job done.
It was Kreiner leading the way.
The son of Lakehead University women’s basketball coach Jon Kreiner, the soon-to-graduate youngster poured in 29 points to lead the Falcons past the Vikings 63-49 to capture the tournament championship, the school’s second straight as hosts.
For his efforts, Kreiner was named tournament most valuable player.
“It wasn’t really just one person, it was the whole team who contributed to this W. It feels great,” Kreiner said.
It was a tale of two halves for both teams.
The second-place Vikings (7-1) kept it close for the first two quarters, leading by one after the opening eight minutes after Liam Wrigley buried a turnaround jumper as time ran out in the first.
The lead changed hands five times in the second quarter, but it was Kreiner who delivered the final blow, draining the fourth of six three-pointers he’d hit on the night to push the Falcons in front for good, 35-33.
St. Ignatius coach Matt Erdman, whose team tops the Superior Secondary Schools Athletic Association standings, said his troops made the necessary adjustments at halftime, in particular stopping Vikings star Roddy Wigwas, who had 13 at the half and finished with 19.
The Falcons allowed just 16 second-half points.
“I thought the guys picked it up as the tournament went on,” said Erdman, who also serves as an assistant under Lakehead’s interim men’s basketball coach Ryan Thomson.
“I thought they did an unbelievable job of making the adjustments they needed to make in the second half to eliminate some of the easy looks those guys got – although they made some really tough shots in the first half.”
Jayme Koski, the Falcons 6-foot-6 forward, clearly found his form in the third and fourth, scoring 11 of his 13 points after the break.
“Coach just said stick to the game plan, keep working hard and play defence. That’s pretty much it and it took care of itself,” said Koski, glad his offensive touch finally came around in the second half.
“I wasn’t contributing too much in the first half, so I tried to step it up and score some points.”
St. Ignatius (8-0), who also got 14 from Alex Buset, extended their lead to 11 after three and coasted to victory in the fourth, a 7-0 run after the Vikings Will McDonough dropped back-to-back buckets to pull Hammarskjold within seven, down 50-43, sealing the triumph.
The two teams will meet on Wednesday in regular-season play.
