In a match-up between WCSSAA's best defense (38.8 PPG) and the league's second-best offense (68.8 PPG), defense won out as the Bluevale Knights held off the Jacob Hespeler Hawks by a 44-35 final in Waterloo on Tuesday afternoon.
Much like watching the Alabama Crimson Tide in the BCS championship game the other night, it may not be the prettiest thing to watch, but Bluevale's grind-it-out ("first team to 40 wins") style sure is effective.
Granted, Jacob Hespeler guard Javon Bryce is still in Jamaica (returning later this week for the SBCSS tournament), but it might not have made much of a difference as the stifling BCI defense keyed on the Hawks' key offensive threats --- in fact, holding Jason Quiring to just 6 points on the evening.
The Knights started slowly, as they trailed 16-12 midway through the second when yours truly arrived after attending to a couple of errands. However, I guess I brought some luck to the home squad with me as the Knights promptly put home the final 10 points of the quarter (essentially holding JHSS without a point during a near five-minute span) to take a 22-16 lead going into half.
Bluevale continued to control the ball and run their offensive sets effectively during the third quarter, and extended their lead to 7 entering the fourth after BCI guard Ian Farquharson was fouled on a jumper with :01 left on the third quarter clock and converted both attempts from the line.
The Hawks had things within 5 in the fourth quarter, but a couple of big back-to-back three-pointers from rookie Garrett Large pushed the lead to double digits (39-28) and the Knights were never really threatened down the stretch.
The future may be bright at Bluevale as they had 4 grade elevens (John Efechaobor, Lukas Seibert, Garrett Large, Jeevan Sidhu) on the floor at crunch time. Jake Becker, another grade eleven, also contributed some solid minutes. The continued progress of those 5 will be key to determining Bluevale's fate in the WCSSAA league come February.
"Coaching such a young group has its challenges at times as we are inconsistent," noted Bluevale coach Doros Theodosiou.
"However," he continued, "defensively, it is as good a group as I have ever coached - they really work hard on that end."
"Coaching such a young group has its challenges at times as we are inconsistent," noted Bluevale coach Doros Theodosiou.
"However," he continued, "defensively, it is as good a group as I have ever coached - they really work hard on that end."
Of course, it was still the veterans who still led the way on the scoresheet for the Knights as Perrin Smith had 13 and Ian Farquharson 10. Large (7), Sidhu (6), Seibert (6) and Efechaobor (3) rounded out the BCI scoring.
Saajan Arora had a solid effort for the Hawks on Tuesday and finished with 9. Other Hawks on the scoresheet included Brendan Vandyken 7, Sanam Arora (6), Jason Quiring (6), Simon Beeksma (3), Lucas Marsden (2) and James Roberts (2).
The win boosted the Knights to a 4-3 mark on the year, while Hespeler fell to 5-2. Both teams have huge games on Thursday, as Bluevale travels to (5-2) Preston while JHSS visits Cameron Heights (3-4).
Waterloo-Oxford 53, Glenview Park 36
In a battle of a couple "AAA" schools, the WODSS Crusaders moved to 4-3 by knocking off the Glenview Park Panthers (2-5). Chris Thomson (14) led a trio of Crusaders in double-digits, the others being Tyler Bowman (11) and Kyle Weber (11). Sean Davidson led the Panthers with 9.
JUNIOR: Bluevale 41, Jacob Hespeler 26
In a game between two teams battling for a potential playoff spot, the Bluevale Knights picked up their second win of the junior campaign (2-6) as they handled the (1-7) Jacob Hespeler Hawks in the first game of the junior-senior doubleheader.
Jamal John (12) and Ray Lin (8) led the way for the Knights, while Matt Quiring (12) and Ethan Rudd (4) were the top Hawks.
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