A perfect 10 for Canisius! The Crusaders welcomed fans to the 16th Annual Tom Keenan Memorial Basketball Tournament this past weekend, and thanks to a strong effort from Shane Cercone '23, CHS defeated Albany Academy to win the title. Named after former dean of students and head basketball coach Tom Keenan, who passed away in 2003 after a battle with cancer, the tournament consistently features some of the top teams and talent in New York State and beyond. This year, Canisius welcomed to the school and tournament Albany Academy from Albany, Health Sciences from Buffalo, and Notre Dame College School from Welland in Ontario, Canada.

Canisius advanced to the championship game thanks to a win over Health Sciences on Friday night. While the Crusaders had opened up a large lead early, the team had to hold off a furious 4th quarter comeback attempt from the Falcons. Cercone was also the leading scorer for the team in that game, and Nicholas Purdie '25 and Pat Benzer '24 were also double-digit scorers with 12 and 11 points respectively.

In his ten seasons at the helm, Tom Keenan's Canisius Crusader teams won three Manhattan Cup titles as the Monsignor Martin High School Athletic Association champion, with the titles coming in consecutive years (1996, 1997, and 1998). Canisius also won Class C catholic state championships in 1996, 2000, and 2001.

Congratulations, Crusaders!