“I feel we can end up winning it and being a team that went from third to second to first place. I think it’s our time to be number one.”
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The countdown for the Holy Cross Crusaders senior boys basketball team is on: three, two and, they hope, finally one at the Bedford Road Invitational Tournament.
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Two years ago, the Cross boys placed third at the prestigious high school hoops tourney. Last year, they settled for second after losing to Taylor Street rival Walter Murray in the first all-Saskatoon final since 1971. This year, the Crusaders enter BRIT as one of the favourites to claim the title.
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“Winning BRIT would mean a lot,” said Grade 12 star Kian Tyson, the lone member of the Cross boys to have played at BRIT in 2023 and 2024.
“I’d be holding it for years to come … I feel we can end up winning it and being a team that went from third to second to first place. I think it’s our time to be number one. To have a BRIT championship, as a team that’s a great thing to have on your resume.”
A tournament victory this weekend in the 55th edition of BRIT would put the Crusaders on an exclusive list of Saskatoon teams. Since the tournament was created in 1968 and the host squad won that year, only Mount Royal in 1971, Walter Murray in 1990, Holy Cross in 1997, 2003 and 2004, and Murray again last year have pulled off the feat.
“We’ve touched the other two medals and hopefully can get the gold this year,” said Holy Cross head coach Josh Rutten, who previously appeared as a player in BRIT for the Crusaders.
“We’ve been working our way up and I hope we can do it one more time this year. It would be a huge deal. Last year it doesn’t feel like we played our best in the final. Those are things you remember. The players remember it but as coaches you think of different mistakes you made, things you could have done differently.
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“Really, getting first place this year would put some ease to that and help you forget a little bit about those ones and focus on a win and hopefully a good future for the rest of our season.”
Shooting guard Tyson and point guard Moe Osman were named tournament all-stars at BRIT last year. Much of the team’s title aspirations this weekend rest on their shoulders.
“They’re both very talented players,” Rutten said.
“They are two of the best players in the city, two of the best in this province. There’s some stuff they can do that’s very special and not a lot of other people can do it. They were both all-stars last year and had really good weekends as Grade 11s, which was pretty impressive. So I hope Grade 12 is even bigger for them this year.”
Osman said his team is ready to make adjustments to the quick pace they can expect at BRIT.
“It’s quicker than normal games (that have 10 quarters) because it’s only eight-minute quarters,” Osman said.
“We really have to use the clock and be smart with the ball at all times. You’ve got to build as a team and get better so we can work on pushing the ball up.”
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Tyson and Osman each started playing the sport when they were around four years old. Together, they have been teammates since they were in Grade 4, in Saskatoon Minor Basketball Association, the Greenwave United club program and now with Holy Cross.
“We’ve known the game for a long time,” said Tyson, whose father Sean, a native of Baltimore, was a standout at Clemson University before a professional career that included time with the Saskatoon Slam in the 1990s.
“It’s always special playing with him on the same court.”
Tyson and Osman both see BRIT as one of the most important tournaments of their season.
“I think we hold BRIT very high. Everyone is excited for BRIT,” Tyson said.
“Especially getting the chance to play better teams from across the country. To do that in front of our home people, it’s a special honour that most teams don’t really get to do. So I’m very excited for that.”
The tournament tipped off Thursday, with first-round games pitting Bedford Road against West Vancouver Secondary, St. Joseph taking on Brooks, Alta. Composite, Winnipeg Kildonan-East meeting Medicine Hat High School (the latter in its first-ever BRIT appearance), and Walter Murray facing Trois Rivieres, Que.’s Seminaire St. Joseph. On Friday in their tourney openers, Holy Cross takes on Magrath, Alta. High School while Regina Archbishop O’Neill meets Edmonton St. Francis Xavier.
Semifinals, at the Kelly Bowers Gymnasium inside Bedford Road, take place Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. The consolation final is set for Saturday at 6 p.m., followed by the third-place game at 7:30 p.m. and the championship final at 9 p.m.
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