Jonas Emilsson
www,KramMag.com

Judging by the success of the 40th annual Sr. Francis Invitational senior boys basketball tournament there was no doubt that the Browns were gracious hosts.

Unfortunately for them, the graciousness extended to the hard-court for the tournament finale, where they squared off against the high-flying Bishop McNally Timberwolves, a team that came into the season ranked second in Calgary.

The Timberwolves came out of the gates quickly and never slowed down as they thumped the Browns 80-44 in front of a gym packed full of fans supporting the home team.

Paul Gulfo scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Timberwolves and Awet Abraha chipped in with 18 of his own.

Scott Anderson led the Browns with 11 points.

Gulfo and fellow point guard Jeff Joaquin set the tone with smothering ball pressure to force numerous turnovers, especially early in the match.

The result was usually an easy bucket by either player as they played a beautiful game of give-and-go to perfection on their way down the court.

“They feed off each other,” said Timberwolves’ head coach Dave Finn when talking about his two guards. “They anticipate the play really well and then run the floor so fast. You just turn them loose and away they go.”

The Browns suffered from a terrible shooting night.

It took them almost five minutes to score their first point of the game when Anton Bellot converted on a free throw.

The Timberwolves led 19-9 after one quarter and 45-10 by the time halftime rolled around.

“The game had a really fast pace and I don’t think St. Francis had the kind of shooting night they wanted,” said Finn. “That’s the way it was for us when we played against Sir Winston Churchill last week….a lot of missed shots.”

The Browns did start to find their range more regularly in the second half, displaying some of the reasons why they advanced to the final of the tournament, but the hole was much too large to dig out of.

After bowing out in the semi-final of the Calgary Basketball Classic and then losing their season opener to the Bulldogs, the tournament win helps the team justify why they were ranked No.2 coming into the season.