HALIFAX — Somewhere in Halifax, Steve Konchalski is smiling.
It’d be hard not to. After all, the St. Francis Xavier University X-Men—the team he coached for 46 years until retiring before last season—are one win away from immortality.
On Saturday, the X-Men defeated the top-seeded University of Victoria Vikes 77-65 in the U Sports men’s basketball national semifinal, booking a trip to the championship game against the Carleton Ravens on Sunday at the Scotiabank Centre in downtown Halifax.
It’s been a long time coming. The X-Men last played for a championship in 2004 and last won in 2001 under Konchalski, better known as Coach K. But at 2023 nationals, the tournament Konchalski is honourary chair of, St. Francis Xavier may once again find itself atop Canadian university basketball.
“We always said this at the start of the year—we want to wake up our history,” head coach Tyrell Vernon said. “Our previous experience is our history. With Coach K being a part of everything that’s been going on, all the stories that we get, those are championship stories.”
The X-Men rode a stretch of dominance to this point, winning the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championship by 50 points and defeating the Queen’s Gaels in the national quarterfinal. The dominance continued against Victoria.
St. F.X. opened the game with a 26-14 first quarter, stunning the Vikes with a well-rounded offence that featured contributions from six players. The home crowd of 7,350 also overwhelmed Victoria, raining chants and jeers down from the rafters of the Scotiabank Centre.
The Vikes found their footing in the second quarter, narrowing the gap to seven points. But Victoria couldn’t get any closer, in part thanks to the X-Men’s success in shutting down Canada West Player of the Year Diego Maffia. Maffia had only 20 points and was just one-for-11 from three after scoring 40 points in the quarterfinals against UPEI.
All credit for stopping Maffia goes to guard Steven Levnaic, said Vernon and forward David Muenkat, who collected 19 rebounds in the game.
“Steve doesn’t get the praise he deserves,” said Muenkat, who was named U Sports Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday. “I tell Steve all the time, he’s the real Defensive Player of the Year … He’s a star in his role, so everybody in that locker room loves Steve.”
In the final seconds of the game, as the outcome crystalized and the play slowed, a familiar chant arose from a pocket of fans at the Scotiabank Centre: “We want Carleton.”
It’s a rallying cry that University of Alberta fans chanted at last year’s nationals, when their team advanced to the semifinal to face the Ravens. But it’s a dangerous wish. Carleton has never lost a gold medal game.
The Ravens will be looking for their fourth consecutive championship and 17th in the last 20 seasons when they take on the X-Men at 5 p.m. ET Sunday. The Carleton players have been on this stage before—the X-Men haven’t.
“We have a lot of respect for Carleton. They’ve been here several times, so obviously they’re a program that knows how to win,” Muenkat said. “But again, we’re focused on ourselves. We’re here for a reason, too.”
With Coach K looking on and the home crowd raining calamity down on Carleton, the X-Men will hunt for history.
“This is an opportunity for us to leave a story behind,” Vernon said.
Featured image by L. Manuel Baechlin.
