Ravens Win Saint Francis De Sales Invitational

Shown are, from left, first row: Eric Hernandez, Evan Lang, Emmanuel Legarreta, Tim Talbott, and Michael Bradford; and second row: Nathan Lirette, Alex Jansen, Ethan Green, Francisco Maldonado, Fr. Maurice Moon, Joey Piccini, and Jaime Hernandez.

Saint Joseph Seminary College won the fifth annual Saint Francis De Sales Invitational basketball tournament in Milwaukee on March 2. It is the third straight year the team has won a similar weekend tournament after participating the past two years in the Fr. Pat O’Malley Invitational in Mundelein IL. Like the O’Malley Invitational, the De Sales Invitational brought teams of seminarians from around the country together to compete on the hardwood.

Saint Joseph Seminary College won five games Friday and Saturday to advance to Sunday’s championship game. The Ravens won the title with a 41-31 victory over the defending tourney champion, Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary from Denton, NE. Our Lady of Guadalupe had won the tournament three of the past four years.

Sixteen seminaries participated in the tournament this year.

The Ravens swept through pool play with wins over Saint Mary’s of Baltimore, 81-22, and Saint John’s of Boston, 58-16, then defeated Saint Mary’s of Baltimore, 54-12, in the Round of 16, and Saint Francis de Sales, 44-22, in the quarterfinals.

They faced their stiffest competition in Saturday night’s semifinals, beating Saint Paul Seminary (Saint Paul, MN) in triple overtime, 39-35. Fr. Maurice Moon, coach of the Ravens, said the gym was packed with Saint Paul’s fans, but the Ravens kept their composure, showed their grit and trusted in their brothers.

The Ravens found themselves 3 points behind with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first overtime, but Tim Talbott hit a 3-pointer to tie the game, and the defense held strong. The Ravens were down by 2 in the second overtime as the clock wound down, but Joey Piccini hit a buzzer beater as he fell to the ground to keep the Ravens alive. Saint Joseph never trailed in the final overtime period.

This year’s team members are Eric Hernandez, Alex Jansen, and Evan Lang (Diocese of Fort Worth); Emmanuel Legarreta (Diocese of El Paso); Tim Talbott, Michael Bradford, Ethan Green, and Joey Piccini (Archdiocese of Mobile); Nathan Lirette (Diocese of Shreveport); Francisco Maldonado (Diocese of Jackson); and Jaime Hernandez (Diocese of Nashville).