Junior Warriors provide education along with 78-56 hoops victory over WCI

College Avenue Knight Faud Alezzi (lower left) battles for possession of the ball with Delhi Raider Jayden Collens (right) in front of Delhi’s Even Weber during Friendly City Junior Classic basketball action Friday, January 16 at Huron Park. The Knights captured the tournament title the following day, defeating the WCI Red Devils in the final. (Jeff Tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Echo Correspondent

Woodstock CI Red Devils junior boys’ basketball coach Chris Coyle was going through a tough patch.

The day earlier, he had been in Pittsburgh, and legendary Primanti Bros. sandwiches aside, saw his beloved Steelers eliminated from the 2026 NFL postseason by the Houston Texans, an ouster followed by the resignation of coach Mike Tomlin. Coyle got back to Woodstock in time to shower and head to the WCI Devildome, sharing in a 78-56 Thames Valley Regional Athletics Southeast junior boys basketball loss to the visiting Woodstock St. Mary’s Warriors on Jan. 13.

“Banner couple of days,” interjected senior boys coach Eric Molinaro, whose squad had prevailed 79-59 over the Warriors in the first game to run their regular season record to a perfect 7-0. “Banner couple of days.”

The sun, however, was expected to come up the following morning, Coyle still ‘repping’ his Steelers toque. And while not exactly thanking the junior Warriors for the lesson imparted on quickness and aggressiveness, junior coach Jason Poole was appreciative of its growth potential for his team while giving St. Mary’s full credit.

The Red Devils like to play a fast, up-tempo game, pushing the ball, similar in style to the Warriors approach on the day.

“They did it better,” Poole credited of a Warriors squad which led 22-15 after eight minutes of play, and 45-27 at the half.

“We were a little afraid because they barely lost to league-leading CASS (Woodstock College Avenue) and we lost to CASS by 15,” said St. Mary’s forward Joshua Morgan. “It was intense, very intense, they (WCI) have good shooters, very good shooters.

“Once we were able to stop the threes, we are a bigger team and got a lot of points from inside.”

The Red Devils cut the gap to ten by the end of the third quarter, fuelled in part by three-point field goals from Jesiah Smith-Sutherland and Kymani Mohammed.

“We thought, OK, next goal is six with a couple of minutes to go,” said Coyle. “Didn’t happen.”

The Warriors opened the fourth with a corner three from Tristan Manalo backed up by a steal and lay-in, setting the stage for a 25-13 run which decided the outcome.

Struggling with his shots earlier, Manalo was happy to see the momentum-shifting ‘trey’ find nothing but net from a gap the Red Devils’ 1-3-1 zone defence struggled to cover.

“I tried to take advantage of that,” he said. “It’s kind of like space, so I just stayed there.”

Manalo added a second three-pointer in the fourth quarter, eight points overall, part of a game-high 26, including three threes. E. Arthur added 16 for the Warriors, J. Adeoye, A. Wani and Morgan ten apiece, J. Mazurkiewics four and A. Belonio one field goal. Jude Buncher had two points for the Red Devils, Aiden Silos eight, Mohammed 13, Finn Roach 15 and Smith-Sutherland a team-high 18, including two threes.

The win lifted the Warriors to a 6-1 regular season mark, at the time tied with St. Thomas Parkside behind the 7-0 Woodstock College Avenue Knights. With one regular-season outing remaining, the junior and senior boys’ basketball teams are turning their attention to the playoffs, which begin with a play-in round on Feb. 10. Quarterfinals are scheduled for that Thursday, followed by the semifinals and final on the subsequent Tuesday and Thursday (Feb. 19).

Last year, the junior Warriors finished third at the Western Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association (WOSSAA) AA tournament, said Morgan, who is hoping for more this season.

“We want to see how far we can go.”

The Red Devils start four Grade 9s and have a total of 12 on the roster, a serious adjustment admits Roach from Grade 8 ball.

“It’s like a big upgrade.”

However, optimism and ambition remain for a post-season run.

“It’s not going to be easy,” admitted Smith-Sutherland. “Somewhat difficult - but we can do it if we try our hardest.”

Like the Steelers rebuilding their coaching staff en route to former glory, Coyle looks forward to wiping the slate clean and getting a fresh start at the next Red Devils practice.

“We are in great shape,” said Poole, looking forward to two tournaments and a league game, leading up to the goal of playing their best basketball in February.

“And we will,” Coyle concluded.

Friendly City Classic Senior Boys Tournament

Convenors Jerry Kleiner and Jason Poole are welcoming 24 senior boys basketball teams from across southwestern Ontario to compete in the 2026 Friendly City Classic Woodstock on Jan. 30 and 31. All five Oxford senior boys’ teams are in the draw in pools, including teams from Windsor, Waterloo, Mitchell and Georgetown.

Competition will tip off at 11:30 a.m. at Woodstock St. Mary’s with additional pools joining at 1 p.m. at College Avenue and Woodstock CI, and at 2:30 p.m. at Huron Park.

The top squads from eight three-team pools advance to championship quarterfinals, second-place teams to a consolation round and third-place finishers to a friendly. The consolation final is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday at College Avenue with the championship game set to tip off simultaneously at St. Mary’s.