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The wheels fell off the city champion Father Henry Carr Crusaders' campaign for a provincial basketball crown Tuesday afternoon in OFSAA quad-A quarter-final action against none other than Scarborough's Blessed Mother Theresa, their biggest rival.

The province's sixth-seed Titans avenged the overtime loss they faced at the hands of number three Henry Carr in the city championship final a week ago, shutting down the Etobicoke-based Crusaders offence in the second half at St. Michael's College enroute to a convincing 66-43 victory.

The win meant a spot in the provincial tournament's semifinal game Wednesday morning for the Titans.

Crusaders coach Paul Melnik thinks he and his charges were a bit overconfident going into the quarterfinal match-up and weren't as mentally prepared as they should have been against the Titans.

"I thought we took them for granted a bit," said Melnik, noting that Mother Theresa should have been seeded higher in the draw.

"They haven't beaten us in three years. We beat them three times this season. We all thought that it'd be a tough game, but we've always been able to make it through against these guys... not this time."

The Crusaders looked to be keeping pace with the Titans in the quarterfinal match-up, knotting the game with a three-pointer to close the first half.

"We didn't need to make too many changes," explained Melnik about his halftime discussion with his troop. "We just needed to be a little more patient in running our offence. We really wanted to beat them off the dribble, but we wanted to do it late in the offence and we just couldn't get it done.

"We just got too excited, too amped, and it didn't work in our favour."

The quarterfinal take-down for the Titans stokes the rivalry fire between the two basketball powers - who are located at opposite ends of the city but face many of the same societal setbacks - and adds yet another chapter to their continuing basketball saga.

The Titans' junior program also invested in the rivalry with Henry Carr, garnering the city title this year.

"I think it just heats things up a little bit more because we were on a big roll, our junior team was dominating them and, now all of a sudden they have wins over both levels," said Melnik, noting that it'll simply motivate the Crusaders coaches and players to ensure that this doesn't repeat itself next year. He said there are no sincere hard feelings though and he hopes that Mother Theresa goes on to win the provincial crown again.

"It's a very friendly rivalry though, (we) are all friends. There is no tension between the two; one team loses, one team wins, we shake hands and that's it."

Henry Carr has gotten the upperhand when it comes to city titles, Titans head coach Richard Gallacher light-heartedly admits, but Mother Theresa has earned more provincial championships in recent years, putting them a notch above their Etobicoke opponent in his view. And the win against Henry Carr, adds the Titans coach and former Titans player, was a nail in a coffin that has been a long time in coming.

"They (Carr) have been doing better head-to-head, but M.T. has more OFSAA medals (three in a row)," one-upped Gallacher, noting that he and Melnik have fast become friends in spite of everything.

"There's definitely a rivalry, but it's very friendly and with the right spirit about it. It's a very positive thing," said Gallacher in all seriousness.