The St. Joe’s Marauders faced one of their biggest tests of the season on Saturday afternoon and passed it with flying colors.

The Marauders entered the game with a 12-2 record, but were looking to prove themselves against one of the top teams in Western New York. They got that opportunity when the 9-1 Little Irish rolled into town. Aquinas came in ranked No. 5 in the Class AA state rankings. The Marauders came in ranked No. 15 in Class A but were looking for a signature victory against a top team to add to their resume.

St. Joe’s got what it was looking for behind big offensive efforts from Reggie Agbeko, Kyle Briggs and Louis Oliveri, all of whom went for 16 points as St. Joe’s posted a 67-58 victory.

Aquinas has long been a thorn in the side of the Marauders, but Saturday’s victory exercised some of the demons from St. Joe’s frustrating past against the Little Irish. It was the first time St. Joe’s head coach Mark Simon has beaten Aquinas. The win also gives the Marauders a lot of confidence heading into their matchup with the No. 1 team in Western New York, rival Canisius, on Friday night.

“I’m extremely proud of our guys,” Simon said. “We were tough on defense and mentally. It’s a great win that shows we can play with anyone when we play a complete game.”

St. Joe’s was led by the scoring efforts of Agbeko, Briggs and Oliveri, but Simon was really impressed by how they played on the defensive end. Agbeko and Briggs were given the assignment of guarding Aquinas’ Christian White and Phil Valenti, the top two scorers for the Little Irish. Briggs held White, a Monmouth recruit, to just nine points, while Agbeko kept Valenti, a Canisius recruit, to 12 points.

“Our defense did a great job on White and Valenti,” Simon said. “You hold them to nine and 12, that’s really good.”

Simon specifically singled out the play of Briggs on both ends. In addition to his tough defense and 16 points on offense, Briggs led the team with five steals and five assists.

“Briggs had his best game,” Simon said. “He was tenacious on defense and attacked on offense. It was a great, senior-leader game from him. That’s what you want. I was proud of him.”

Saturday’s win was the third straight for St. Joe’s heading into their road game at Niagara Catholic on Tuesday night. The game began after The Bee went to press. The Marauders were hoping to avoid the dreaded “trap game” as the Niagara Catholic game comes in between the Aquinas win and the big showdown with Canisius. Simon said his team had better be ready for Niagara Catholic because the Patriots are having a pretty good season, posting a 6-4 record following a 58-17 win at Cardinal O’Hara on Thursday.

“They’re playing pretty good basketball,” Simon said. “We need to take care of business because they can score and Niagara Catholic has always been a tough place for us to play.”

A victory would set the Marauders up well for the big matchup against Canisius at 7 p.m. Friday at St. Joe’s. The Crusaders sport a 9-4 record this season with all four losses coming to teams from outside Western New York, including a 76-68 loss to Aquinas. Canisius is in first place in the Monsignor Martin Association and are currently ranked as the top team in Western New York and No. 8 in the Class A state rankings. It’s a big-time game that should make for a big-time atmosphere at St. Joe’s on Friday.

“It should be a special game with the two of us playing so well,” Simon said. “It should be fun. We’re looking forward to keeping up our winning ways and looking forward to what we have to do for the playoffs.”

email: mmigliore@beenews.com