By Larry Moko

The St. John Henry Newman Cardinals are down but not out.

Newman opened play at the 2023 OFSAA boys’ AAA high school basketball tournament Monday with a 55-47 loss to the Pickering Trojans.

The three-day provincial competition in Sarnia features 18 teams.

“The OFSAA tournament allows for a tune-up,” Newman coach Victor Raso said. “Failure wasn’t fatal.”

A loss Tuesday morning against the Eden Flyers, however, would eliminate the 10th-seeded Cardinals from gold-medal contention. A victory would vault Newman into a quarter-final Tuesday evening.

Newman trailed 15-12, 27-20 and 36-34 at the quarter breaks against Pickering.

“We never got control of the game,” said the coach of the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic league champions. “Pickering was very athletic. We weren’t as locked in to play as we have been.”

Seventh-seeded Eden won its opening game 60-45 over Sudbury’s Lo-Ellen Park Knights.

Toronto’s Oakwood Barons are the No. 1 seed.

Games are being played at Northern Collegiate and Lambton College.

Newman captured a medal – antique bronze – at OFSAA in 2017 with Raso coaching. That year, the Cardinals lost a 53-52 decision in the bronze-medal game against Pickering’s Pine Ridge Pumas.