Tonight, the Saint Thomas Aquinas Saints faced the O’Hara Celtics in the first round of the Jim Draper Classic hosted by Blue Valley Northwest.  They won 63-51 and will face Blue Valley Northwest tomorrow night at 7:00.

The Saints entered the game after a frustrating first game which resulted in a 2 point loss on a last second shot in overtime to the Southeast Knights.

Zach Bourquin made the first basket of the season for the Saints, Tommy Harrison hit the first three pointer and Kevin Sweeney pulled down the first rebound.  Beau Bourquin led the team with 16 points.

They came out to play with a slightly modified starting line-up that featured Seniors Kevin Sweeney, Zach Bourquin, Beau Bourquin, Alex Keith, and Junior Tommy Harrison.

Sweeney jumped for the ball and it flew out of bounds, the Saints had possession.  Beau made the first shot of the game and was fouled, traditional three point play.  This started the 7-1 run that the Saints had to start the game.

The game overall was sloppy.  There were a lot of fouls, a lot of travels and way too many missed lay-ups by both teams.  But, out of the mix there were moments of glory, namely Sweeny’s dunk.  His face was great, like he really did not expect for that to happen.  He got hi-fives all night.  Sweeney ended the game with around 15 points.  Zach had some great behind-the-back passes and ended the game with around 14 points. But the real star was Beau.  According to my count he ended the game with a domineering 24 points well distributed with free-throws, field-goals and three pointers.

This game also featured the super-fan cheering efforts of Derek Damas.  After the game, the best fans headed to Aquinas for a basketball double-header while the girls team faced the Sumner Sabres.  The guys helped with the three-point contest during half-time for the Lady Saints Classic.