Article By: Gavin Crites
The North Park Collegiate Trojans senior boys basketball team opened defence of their Brant County high school championship Thursday night with a decisive 58-31 victory over the Pauline Johnson Collegiate Thunderbirds (0-1).
The Trojans' experience and superior athletic ability was evident early, with North Park jumping out to a 16-0 lead after one quarter. The Trojans (1-0) ran the floor well and made some athletic plays at both ends of the floor.
At half time it was North Park 31, PJC 5.
The Thunderbirds came out strong in the second half though, establishing themselves in the paint area and outscoring North Park 14-10 in the third quarter.
PJC coach Rob Innes says his team came out "a little nervous" before using what seemed to be their advantage in the post.
"In the second half, we looked to get it inside a little bit more and post up and get some rebounds," Innes said.
"We were able to get it in and kick it out and it worked a lot better."
He added: "Once we can handle (pressure) and get into the post and work inside out, I think we'll have a lot more success."
Dakatta Brash led PJ in scoring with six points, while Dave Knevel added five.
North Park's Logan Varga led all scorers with 15 points. Marcus Jones put up 11 for the Trojans.
"It feels good to come out and get a big decisive win like that," Jones said.
"Honestly, we didn't play as strong as we could have. But it's the first regular game of the season, so there's a lot of room for improvement."
North Park put forth a well balanced attack throughout the game and gave their starters a rest after opening up with a big lead, something coach Todd Andrew said is important this early in the season.
"We want to make sure we're a deep enough team to try to make sure we get as many kids involved as possible," Andrew said.
"If they can build their confidence, it's going to be better for us down the road.
"All in all, it wasn't a bad effort."
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